Dazzled in Dallas!
by L1701E
Summary: Chapter 6 up! Complete! The West Coast Misfits' first adventure after the Gathering of Twilight! The West Coast Misfits travel to Dallas, where they are to protect the mutant singing sensation known as the Dazzler from the Watchdogs! Next: West Cost Misfits vs. Watchdogs for the life of the Dazzler! Read and Review, please!
1. The Briefing!

**Dazzled in Dallas!**

 **Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners. The Starr family are mine.**

 **Author's Note: This fic is set about a month or so after the events of RogueFanKC's "Mutants of Twilight". I know what you are thinking. "Wait, if this story is set _after_ MoT, why put it up when that story is unfinished?" Well, it's perfectly clear RogueFanKC is never going to finish MoT (He hasn't put up a new chapter of it in nearly 5 years), and I had this in my head for sometime, so I thought I might as well write it. **

Chapter 1: The Briefing!

 **Malibu, California**

Near the city of Malibu was a military base. However, this base was not an ordinary one. It was created for special troops...with some special wards. This was known as Malibu Base, a headquarters for a group of Joes put together to fight terrorist menaces along the United States's West Coast. And these Joes also had something special in their ranks: A group of teenagers with superhuman powers and abilities.

Six of those youths had gathered at a meeting room, and they all had sat at a table. An elderly, but spry man walked into the room with a smile on his face. He was a tall man, his gray hair being white at the temples, and wrinkles on his face being the only real obvious indicators of his age. He wore a green dress uniform that was neat and pressed. General Walter Whithalf walked up to a podium.

"Good morning, kids!" He greeted happily at the kids at the table. They responded in various ways. "And how are we today?" _Shame we don't have the full team here with us, what with the Superstars touring the Australia at the moment. But that is alright. This mission won't need all of them, and we can always get them at short notice._

"Doing wonderfully, General!" A lanky teenage boy answered with a smile. He wore a plain black t-shirt and black jeans. Around his neck was a silver chain with a small pendant of a yellow eight-pointed star. His hands were unusual as they only had three fingers and a thumb each. His hair was also in a just as rather unusual style: It was in a mullet similar to that of 80s pop star Limahl.

 _ **Longshot. Real Name: None (Given the name "Arthur Centino" by GI Joe). Birthplace: Mojoworld. Affiliation: West Coast Misfits. Physiology: Artificial Mutant Human. Powers and Abilities: Psychometry, superhuman agility and reflexes, luck manipulation, and trained in stunt work and martial arts.**_

Mojoworld was an alternate dimension that was bombarded by television broadcasts from Earth. These broadcasts would drive the citizenry mad, and it allowed the being named Mojo to conquer this world and addict his people to his gladitorial games and television shows. Longshot was a being that was genetically engineered to be a stuntman for Mojo's shows. After an adventure the West Coast Misfits had in Mojoworld during the leadup to the Gathering of Twilight crisis, Longshot came to Earth and joined the West Coast Misfits.

"Wonderful!" Whithalf grinned. "Now, I bet you are wondering why I called you six all here today?"

"I'm hoping it's something fun." Another boy grinned as he pulled a pair of earbuds out of his ears, showing his canine teeth were more like fangs, his chocolate brown eyes gleaming with mirth. He had a brawny frame, and his wild brown hair almost resembled a lion's mane. His facial features, although human and handsome, had a bit of a feline air about them. Over his left eye was a birthmark in the shape of a blue 5-pointed star. He wore a blue Whitesnake t-shirt and blue denim jeans. Around his neck was a zebra-print bandanna, and his hands were covered by a pair of black fingerless biker gloves. Around his wrists were some black wristbands with silver studs. His fingernails also seemed to double as claws.

 _ **Wildstar. Real Name: Ace Starr. Birthplace: Los Angeles, CA. Affiliation: West Coast Misfits. Physiology: Mutant Human. Powers and Abilities: Feline-based mutation grants superhuman strength, speed, reflexes, reaction time, healing factor. Also has superhuman senses. Can fire blue energy beams from fingers.**_

A native of Los Angeles, Ace Starr came from a family of musicians. Three of his cousins were members of the Superstars, the world's first all-mutant rock band. Ace himself was a bit of a virtuoso, the feral mutant being a guitar player since the age of three.

"You know what I'm thinking?" Ace grinned. "I'm personally hoping that it'll be like a Bond film. You know what I mean? Over the top villain with equally over the top scheme to take over the world...cool henchmen with gimmicks...some spy gadgets, and of course..." A smirk formed on his face. "The lovely Bond girls." Another boy next to Ace sighed and slumped back in his chair, pinching the bridge of his nose slightly. This one was tall and muscular, with collar length bright red hair, and intense blue eyes that shone with power. At his temples, his hair was a bright yellow. He was clad in a red polo shirt and black slacks. He then sat up straight and glared at Ace.

"Can't you be serious for five minutes, Wildstar?" He grumbled, his voice showing a thick Boston accent.

 _ **Red Dragon. Real Name: Jake Robert Wildfire. Birthplace: Boston, MA. Affiliation: West Coast Misfits. Physiology: Mutant Human. Powers and Abilities: Flight, fire breath. Can transform into an anthropomorphic dragon for short periods of time. Dragon form has superhuman strength, invulnerability, speed, reflexes, healing factor. Cannot be maintained for long due to it being great energy drain.**_

Coming from a Boston family of professional wrestlers, Jake Wildfire and his younger brother Kyle were recruited by General Whithalf to go undercover in Emma Frost's Massachusetts Academy. After they revealed themselves to save their friend, the X-Men's spy codenamed Sage, the brothers were brought to Malibu and made members of the West Coast Misfits. The brothers were infuriated by this, as they felt that General Whithalf was punishing them for saving the British mutant.

"Aw come on, Jake!" Ace grinned. "I know you aren't the biggest fan of fun, but still." He patted Jake on the shoulder. "Even you have to admit, it's been pretty dull doing nothing much but training and helping out other heroes with minor stuff."

"...perhaps." Jake admitted. "But still, if this is a real mission, then we can't afford to goof around."

"I dunno, it works for our East Coast counterparts." Ace snickered. Jake rolled his eyes.

"Of course it does." He muttered bitterly. "It works for them. _Everything_ always works out for them."

"I have to admit, I am a bit nervous." A blonde girl piped up, her voice showing an Irish brogue. She wore a green sweater with a yellow-and-black plaid skirt. The collar of a yellow shirt peeked out from the top of the sweater.

 _ **Siryn. Real Name: Theresa Rourke-Cassidy. Birthplace: County Mayo, Ireland. Affiliation: West Coast Misfits. Physiology: Mutant Human. Powers and Abilities: Can generate sonic vibrations that can be used for various effects, mainly in the form of a sonic scream. Flight.**_

A second-generation mutant, Theresa had inherited her father Sean "Banshee" Cassidy's sonic abilities. She was working at Moira McTaggert's hospital for young superhumans when she first met future fellow West Coast Misfits Wildstar and Jinx. When the hospital was destroyed in a monsterous attack, she was one of the few survivors. She joined the West Coast Misfits to avenge the fallen, and after the Gathering ended, she decided to join the team.

Theresa chuckled. "It's funny. I helped fight at the Gatherin' of Twilight, and we've done some other stuff, but me stomach still has the butterflies."

"You'll do fine, Theresa." Another girl reassured. This one had pink hair that was once put up in a style that made her hair once resemble horns, but now was down. She wore a black dress with purple-and-black-striped leggings and black combat boots. Her dress had pink highlights and around her neck was a pink-and-purple bandanna.

 _ **Jinx. Real Name: Unknown. Birthplace: Unknown location in India. Affiliations: (Formerly) H.I.V.E. (Currently) West Coast Misfits. Physiology: Enhanced Human (Sorcery). Powers and Abilities: Probablilty manipulation, skilled gymnast.**_

Once a member of the HIVE, a group of young superhumans who menaced the Teen Titans, Jinx left the group after the Hellfire Club deceived the HIVE Academy, and helping the Titans, X-Men, and Misfits defeat Trigon. Her actions got her expelled from the Academy, and with nowhere else to go, General Whithalf found the young luck manipulator and brought her to Malibu, where she found herself a new home, family, and life with the West Coast Misfits.

"You survived the Gathering, you can handle anything." The pink-haired ex-villain told the Irish girl.

"I suppose ye have a point." The Irish blonde smiled.

"Ohboyohboyohboyohboyohboy!" A young boy, around twelve or thirteen years of age, bounced happily up and down in his seat. Much like Theresa's accent showed her Irish connection, this boy's voice showed him clearly as a native of the American South. His wild brown hair was in a messy mop, and on his head were a pair of red goggles with yellow-tinted lenses. He wore a white t-shirt with "Flash" written on it in red lettering, underlined by a red lightning bolt. His outfit was completed by red jeans, and a pair of white hi-tops, with red wristbands.

 _ **Impulse. Real Name: Bartholomew "Bart" Allen. Birthplace: Manchester, AL. Affiliation: West Coast Misfits. Physiology: Mutant Human. Powers and Abilities: Superhuman speed.**_

Before the West Coast Misfits, Bart Allen was a patient. A young mutant who was struggling with an imperfect mutation that was detrimental to his health, he was a patient at Moira MacTaggert's hospital for young superhumans in Scotland. It was there he met and befriended Siryn. When the hospital was devastated in an attack, the young mutant was one of the few survivors, and he joined up with the West Coast Misfits to help them avenge his fellow patients. Afterwards, he became the third of the West Coast Misfits' new recruits. He looked over at Theresa.

"Are you excited?! I sure am excited!"

Theresa chuckled at her young friend. "Take it easy, Bart. I'm sure the General will give us something simple to do."

"God, I hope it's something fun." Ace looked at the general. " _Please_ tell me it's something fun."

"I'm sure whatever this mission, you'll find some way to amuse yourself." Longshot reassured the feral mutant.

"Don't be too sure, Longshot." Jake grumbled. "Knowing Whithalf, it won't be any good." He shot a look at the general as he spoke.

"Ah Jake, ever the Gloomy Gus. Don't you worry, son. This mission is important." Whithalf smiled, pulling a remote out of his pocket. He pointed it at a large screen behind him. The general clicked a button, and an image appeared on the screen. Bart's jaw dropped.

"OH MY GOOOOOOOOODDDDD!" The young speedster gasped in shock.

"Helloooo, nurse!" Ace grinned widely.

"Oh, wonderful..." Jake grumbled, tightly closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Oh, my goodness!" Theresa put her hand in front of her mouth in surprise.

"Heh." Jinx smirked, crossing her arms. "I guess it _is_ true, after all."

"Wow..." Longshot stared at the image on the screen, his eyes glazed.

The image was of a teenage girl singing on a stage. Her face had blue shapes painted around the eyes, and she was clad in a white sleeveless bodysuit with a high collar, and around her neck was a golden necklace with a disco ball pendant. Her wrists had golden bands around them, and her right arm had a golden bangle on it. Flashes of light in various colors were around her body.

"She's...beautiful..." Longshot mumbled.

"Everyone, meet Alison Blaire." General Whithalf pointed at the screen.

"The Dazzler?" Theresa blinked. "The singing star?"

"One and the same." Jinx answered.

"Oh God help me..." Jake groaned.

"Damn, she's a hottie!" Ace whooped. Jinx frowned at this.

"OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD!" Bart bounced up and down in his seat. "IT'STHEDAZZLER!"

"A fan of hers, huh Irish?" Ace asked, pointing at Bart. Theresa nodded.

"Aye. She's quite popular among the patients at the hospital. Bart was hoping she'd visit the hospital one day. Ye know, like celebrities do for those sick kids?"

"Yeah, you see it on the news." Jake shrugged. "Great opportunity for some quick good PR."

"And totally not out of the kindness of their hearts, right?" Theresa frowned at Jake.

The redheaded Bostonian frowned. "I don't have a tendency to think positively of people these days."

"You'd think the Gathering finally being over would lighten you up a bit, Jake." Jinx snickered.

"Don't get me wrong, Jinx. I _am_ glad it's over, but..." Jake shook his head. "Nothing has changed. People still hate mutants." He fell glum. "And I'm still stuck here."

"It's not as bad as you think, son." Whithalf tried to reassure the redhead. "Things have greatly improved between humans and mutants. Also, we've become regarded as heroes."

 _Tell that to those people in Washington, DC. Oh wait, they're dead._ Jake mentally grumbled. _Unlike those that lost their hearts, they didn't **get** to come back! And I'm sure the families of DC's dead would be **very happy** that the Gathering is over..._

"Yeah, Jake." Jinx said, a smile on her face. "Also, the Superstars have been hailed as heroes. Really helped jolt those record sales."

"But I'm _still stuck here._ " Jake grumbled.

"You _still_ mad about being on this team?" Ace blinked. "Didn't you have that talk with-" The leonine mutant got interrupted by a glare from the Bostonian redhead.

"I only agreed to stay on this team because she asked me to stay, and I promised I would. Doesn't mean I have to like it." Jake sneered and crossed his arms. _And it sure as hell does_ _ **not**_ _mean I have to consider any of you my friends..._

"Well, anyway...Alison couldn't visit because even if she _knew_ about the hospital, Moira thought it'd be too much of a security risk." Theresa explained.

"It sucked. She seemed so nice." Bart sighed. "But I get to meet her now, so this is awesome! The others will be so jealous!"

"What a beauty..." Longshot stared at the image, his eyes glazed over. Jake noticed this and frowned.

"Hey! Longshot!" He snapped his fingers in front of the artificial humanoid's face. "Get your head in the game! This is a mission!"

"Huh?" Longshot snapped back to reality. "Oh, I'm sorry. I was just..." He blushed.

Jake rolled his eyes. "This is a mission briefing, not a dating service."

"Miss Blaire has just done something life-changing." Whithalf explained. "She's just recently revealed her mutation."

Jake actually looked amused. "Well, she's a mutant after all."

"Indeed, Jake. The Superstars were dead on. I owe Lila twenty bucks." Jinx smiled in amusement.

"Wait, what do you mean?" Theresa blinked in confusion.

"The Superstars believed Alison was a mutant." Jinx explained to the blonde Irish girl. "One of their...projects during the Gathering was trying to find proof. Blaire herself has claimed that her lightshows were actually special effects, but the Superstars were not so sure about that."

"Indeed." Jake nodded. "The Superstars were never really able to investigate it, for a couple of reasons. Dazzler and the Superstars tend to operate in..." He waved his hand. "Different musical circles."

"Different musical circles?" Longshot asked in confusion.

"Basically, Dazzler and the Superstars did different kinds of music. As a result, they hardly ever got a chance to mingle." Jake explained.

"Do they interact at award shows?"

"Not really. The kind of music the Superstars do don't really get award consideration that much." Jake said.

"Why were they so interested in Alison being a mutant?" Theresa asked.

"Why do you think, Miss Cassidy?" Jake answered. "They were hoping that they could recruit her to the West Coast Misfits." He sighed and rubbed his temple. "Which was _exactly_ what this team needed. Another member who could do light tricks. Not like we had _four_ already..."

"We couldn't be picky, son. Had to take what we could get." Whithalf said.

"Yeah, yeah..." Jake waved it off. _Although it would be nice if we could get some more people with more unique powers on this team. But I doubt we'll get that anytime soon, despite the fact we can now be open about the existence of this team..._

"Anyway..." Whithalf continued. "She will be performing tomorrow night in Dallas."

"Too bad she isn't singing in Nashville." Theresa smiled. "I could get some pictures of the Grand Old Opry for me Da. He's a very big fan of American country music."

"Motown, myself." Ace grinned.

"Finally admitting that you love that music, Ace?" Jinx teased.

"Who said I was ashamed, Pinky?"

"However, not everyone was very happy that Alison has revealed her mutation." Whithalf continued on.

"Of course not." Jake grumbled.

"Why?" Bart asked. "Alison is awesome! She didn't suddenly become a bad person because she was a mutant!"

"A lot of people would disagree, speedy." Jake pointed out.

"May I continue, please?" General Whithalf asked.

"Sorry." Theresa apologized.

"Quite alright." The elderly general waved it off with a smile. "Anyway, we got word a group called the Watchdogs have made several threats against her." Whithalf pressed a button on his remote. "As you all know, the Watchdogs are a right-wing terrorist organization." He gestured at the image. It was of a typical Watchdog member. He was clad in what looked like a purple body suit with orange-brown body armor, and matching combat boots and forearm-length gloves. Around their waists were tactical belts with numerous pouches on them. The helmets were the most interesting thing about them: They were Power Ranger-esque. The helmets were in the shape of a roaring dog's head, the mouth forming the visor, and a silver area underneath where the wearer's mouth would be.

"Looks like an evil Power Ranger." Bart giggled. Theresa shushed the young mutant.

"They kind of do, don't they?" Ace snickered.

"Yeah, they kind of do..." Jinx smiled.

"The Avengers, especially Captain America, were kind enough to give us information about them." Whithalf continued. "According to the Captain, the Watchdogs' usual MO is to attack places like abortion clinics, adult stores, and anyone they deem 'immoral'."

"Makes sense they'd go after mutants." Jake grunted in disgust. "They view them the same way they view gay people, as abominations."

"Real Christian of them." Theresa scowled in disgust. "I distinctly remember something along the lines of the Bible saying that one should not judge others lest ye get judged yerself."

Jinx rolled her eyes. "I doubt any of those pricks ever actually _read_ the Bible."

"You're assuming they _can_ read, Pinky." Jake snorted.

"Literate or not, the Watchdogs are dangerous." Whithalf warned. "They are linked to quite a few deaths, and quite a lot of property damage."

"That don't surprise me." Ace scowled. "They sound crazy."

"Captain America can attest to that. Several local superheroes have also been known to have dealt with various 'dogpounds'." Whithalf nodded.

"Dogpounds?" Bart laughed. "They really like their dog theme, don't they?"

"Supervillain groups love their gimmicks, man." Ace snickered.

"A 'dogpound' is like a terrorist cell." Whithalf explained. "It's one of the reasons why we have so much trouble taking them down for good." He then perked up. "Speaking of local superheroes, one of Dallas's is on the case as well." He pressed a button on his remote, and the image changed again. This time, an image of a blonde woman appeared on the screen.

She wore a blue domino mask and a blue bodysuit with a chest emblem of a white 5-pointed star. Around her waist was a red belt with a silver belt buckle in the shape of a 5-pointed star. The belt had a pair of red holsters with matching stars on them, too. In the holsters were a pair of futuristic-looking revolvers. Also attached to the belt was a coiled-up lasso. Her hands were covered by red gloves with stars on them, and her feet had matching cowboy boots. Her identity was protected by a blue domino mask with a white 5-pointed star on it.

"Meet Shooting Star." Whithalf introduced. "She is one of Dallas's more prominent Locals. She was also a member of the Rangers, an informal team of heroes based in Southwestern states."

"Southwest? Like Arizona, right?" Theresa asked.

"Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, around there." Jinx nodded.

"Oh great, we're going to work with a Local Hero." Jake muttered as he facepalmed. "That's going to be fun."

"I don't see what you're complaining about, Jake." Ace shrugged. "This Shooting Star girl seems really badass."

"She does seem to be quite fascinating." Longshot added.

"I would like to remind you all that we may have won the Gathering of Twilight, but we paid a big price for it." Jake growled. "It _cracked the superhero community in half._ Many local-level superheroes felt that we left them for dead."

"Jake, we couldn't help them protect their homes." Jinx reminded. "We had to stop the Organization itself. Cut off the head, and all that."

"Aye." Theresa agreed. "Nobody who fought at the Gathering was doing it because they wanted any of the local superheroes to die."

"Tell that to that jackass in Cleveland." Jake reminded. "We all know what he pulled in Metropolis."

"Kid Razor was a _maniac!_ " Jinx retorted. "He _always_ hated Superman, anyway!"

"Pinky's got a point, Dragon." Ace said. "That guy had an ego the size of a small state. You could _smell_ the jealousy whenever Superman was brought up around him."

"I don't really get why _anyone_ would hate Superman." Bart blinked. "We all met him. He's like, _super_ nice and everything! Why would that Kid Razor guy hate Superman so much?"

Theresa sighed. "Bart, Razor is one of those people who refuses to see that Superman is so liked and respected because he is very nice to people. Razor wasn't liked like Superman was, and it made him mad and jealous. But instead of becoming nicer, he only got meaner, because he wanted to _force_ people to respect and like him. But it doesn't work that way."

"He did raise a good point...before he tried to bash Superman's head into paste with his guitar." Jake said. "People _died_ in Cleveland. People died in many places despite the Locals' best efforts..and not a one of us were there to stop it. None of us even _considered_ helping them."

"And a lot _more_ people would have died if that big group of heroes, including us, didn't take the fight ta the Organization themselves." Theresa reminded.

"You don't need to remind _me_ of that, Theresa." Jake told her. "But a _lot_ of Locals feel otherwise. It would be wise to keep that in mind when working with Shooting Star here. I'm just saying, they have perfectly understandable reasons to be bitter."

"Hopefully, things will go smoothly between her and us." Whithalf nodded. "We can always use the extra help."

"I can't wait to meet the Dazzler!" Bart whooped. "This is so awesome! Dazzler! Alison Blaire herself is a mutant like us! That is so cool! You guys think she'd want to join the West Coast Misfits?!"

"Bart, I'm sure Alison would rather be singing for crowds than doing what we do." Theresa told her younger friend.

"She just might..." Longshot mumbled wistfully. Theresa shot the artificial mutant look.

"Don't go giving Bart any ideas." The Irish girl warned.

Jinx ruffled Bart's hair playfully. "Look at it like this, Impulse. Even if she decides to stay a civilian, we can still be friends."

"I guess so..."

"This isn't a recruitment mission, anyway." Whithalf added. "If Miss Blaire _does_ wish to join us, it should be of her own free will."

"Probably for the best." Jake said. "This team already has four members with energy-based powers. We already have a redundancy problem as it is."

"I think we have done fine so far, Jake." Longshot pointed out.

"So far, but even _our_ luck is bound to run out at some point."

"Well, let's pray it holds out here." Whithalf smiled. "Anything else?"

Theresa raised her hand. "...shouldn't we get the Superstars from Australia? I mean, most of us aren't exactly _experienced_ at this kind of thing..."

"Don't you worry, my dear." Whithalf reassured. "You kids are much better at this than you think. Remember, you all managed to help win the _Gathering of Twilight._ You can handle bodyguarding a superpowered singer."

"Man's got a point, Terry." Jinx said. "You've all been doing very well in the training. I think you got this."

"There's a chance someone close to Alison could be connected with the Watchdogs." Jake looked at the elder general. "That's something we have to keep in mind."

"We did background checks on everyone involved with Miss Blaire, from her musicians to even the roadies. We found no known connections to any hate groups, including the Watchdogs."

"Still, we should be wary." Jake said. "There may be new ones we _don't_ know about yet."

"Then we'll just have to be extra careful." Whithalf said to the young superhumans in his charge. "Are there any other questions? No? Then you are all dismissed." The kids all left to get ready, except for one. Jake Wildfire sat in his seat, glaring at the general. "Son, you can go now. I suggest you go get ready." Wordlessly, the young mutant did so. His face was still like stone. General Whithalf sighed as he saw Longshot trying to talk to Jake.

 _If only I could **reach** that boy somehow..._ He thought. _Jake and Kyle always hated being on this team, and the Gathering only seems to have made things worse. I wish they could finally get it through their heads that they have friends here and people who care about them..._

 _ **Well, well, well! It looks like our heroes have a new adventure! What insanity will happen next? Can our heroes protect the Dazzler? Will Longshot get a date with his new dream girl? Will the Red Dragon ever lighten up? And what of the Superstars? Find out in the next chapter!**_


	2. Arrival!

**Dazzled in Dallas!**

 **Disclaimer: All characters belong to their owners. And here's your quote: "Choose randomly, because you don't really know what you are doing." - _Lazy Game Reviews_**

Chapter 2: Arrival!

 **Sydney, Australia**

Sydney was known for many things. It was known for being Australia's first city. It hosted the Summer Olympics in 2000. The Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park had many examples of Aboriginal rock art. And one of those landmarks in Sydney was Stadium Australia. Built in 1999 to help host the Summer Olympics of 2000, the stadium has since been the site of many a sporting event from rugby to soccer and American football. It also was a staging area for performances by such musical artists as Bon Jovi, AC/DC, U2, Adele, Guns N' Roses, and now...the Superstars.

One of the members of the World's First All-Mutant Rock Band was sitting in front of a mirror. A teenage boy of around thirteen, he was sitting in front of a vanity mirror. The boy was painting a blue-and-gold lightning bolt on his face with a long thin paintbrush. On his head were perched a pair of blue shades. His longish brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail. He wore a blue bodysuit decorated with gold and silver lightning bolts. On his feet were a pair of comfortable black sneakers. The suit's forearms were covered by a pair of studded forearm bands, and he wore black drummer's gloves.

 _ **Thunderbolt. Real Name: Kyle James Wildfire. Birthplace: Boston, MA, USA. Affiliations: West Coast Misfits, Superstars (Drums, percussion, background vocals). Physiology: Mutant Human. Powers and Abilities: Electrokinesis, flight. Can create constructs from electricity.**_

"There we go." Kyle smirked in pride as he put the paintbrush down. "Looks good."

"It sure does, Kyle." A female voice, Midwestern American-accented, agreed. Kyle turned his head and saw a teenage girl smiling at him. The blue-eyed girl was wearing a single-strap red top with zebra-print frills on it. Her red leather pants had pink-and-white stars on it, and she also had silver combat boots. She also had on red opera gloves, with black wristbands, studded in silver. Around her left eye was a red birthmark in the shape of a four-pointed star.

 _ **Shining Star. Real Name: Jennifer "Jenni" Hendrix Starr. Birthplace: Chicago, IL, USA. Affiliations: West Coast Misits, Superstars (Lead guitar, vocals). Physiology: Mutant Human. Powers and Abilities: Hypnosis. Can fire energy beams from hands and star-covered eye.**_

"Yeah." Kyle adjusted his gloves. "Feels good to be back in the game after that crap with the Gathering."

"I know." Jenni smiled. "I'm glad General Whithalf let us be inactive for a while so we could get some shows done."

"Yeah." Kyle nodded in agreement. "You know, before the Gathering, I wanted nothing more than to be a hero. I hated just pretendin' to be a regular ol' rock band."

Jenni chuckled. "Yeah, I remember that."

"But now..." Kyle sighed. "I want nothing more than to be just a regular musician."

"Well, that's a surprise." Jenni noticed. "I had noticed you seemed a bit more dedicated and serious in your recording sessions lately."

"Yeah, well..." Kyle sighed. "After all we've been through, this mutant drummer has had more than his fill of superheroing to last a _very_ long time."

Jenni blinked at that. "I should be surprised, but I'm not." It was all she could think of to say. "...is this still about General Whithalf?"

"...yeah, and no." Kyle admitted with a sigh. "Ya see, when I was a kid..."

"So, only a short time ago." Jenni cracked jokingly.

"Funny. You are a funny girl." Kyle rolled his eyes. "Anyway, when I was a little kid, I wanted to be a superhero. You know, like Captain America."

"Your love of comic books proves that."

"Yeah. When General Whithalf asked me and Jake to spy on the Hellions for the Joes, I have to admit...I was reluctant." Kyle sighed. "Sneakin' around, playin' James Bond...that ain't my style. It's not Jake's, either. We're front-end guys. We're the ones who go in first. We're the wrecking balls, the ones you bring in when you want something destroyed."

"I see."

"After he forced us on the West Coast Misfits, I started wondering if being a hero was worth it." Kyle continued. "And I've been doing some thinking. All we went through with the Gathering crap. Was it worth it?"

Jen thought about it. "I think so." The Chicago girl shrugged. "Yeah, our role wasn't major, but we were a big help. We helped save the world and send those Organization XIII morons packing. Not to mention, helped usher in a new age of human-mutant peace."

"Yeah, but look at the price we paid." Kyle sighed. "Our careers nearly got derailed. Local-level superheroes hate our guts. Mutants hate us." He frowned. "I _told_ you we should have never hidden our mutantcy. I told you all, and now mutants see us as shameful, and humans see us as liars."

"Kyle, we had to hide our mutations to protect ourselves." Jenni reminded. "The Hellfire Club were after you and Jake, and anti-mutant hatred was at a high, then."

"We could have helped _change_ things." Kyle argued. "Like the X-Men should have, but we made the same damn mistake they did!" He angrily pounded the table. "We did the same damn stupid thing they did! They let their fear of humanity's reaction prevent them from giving a good first impression! We could have helped show that mutants can be good people, too!"

"Kyle...we still can. We _did._ " Jennifer countered. "And we're public figures. Everything we do is going to be criticized by someone."

"Yeah, but..." Kyle sighed. "I feel like we paid the price for it. And the East Coasters didn't." He shook his head. "Especially Toad. Look how _he_ got off after this! The bastard is going to marry his fishy fiancee, and his ugly frog ass is seen as a hero! But _me?_ Nah, we're seen as a joke!"

"We're _not_ a joke! And I can't believe you _still_ are so angry at Toad. It wasn't _his_ fault that Pluto chose him for a Keyblade over you. And the Misfits don't have them anymore, so it's kind of silly to still be mad at him about it. You don't have one, and neither does he." She smiled and held her hands out. "See?"

"...that doesn't change the fact that that amphibious bastard got to have one, and I got nothing." Kyle grumbled. He sighed. "After this Gathering crap, I am fed up. I am fed up with risking my life for nothing." Kyle looked in the mirror, his blue eyes now the eyes of an embittered old man. "I'm done with the superhero stuff. No more. The Thunderbolt is dead. The world killed him, and it has no remorse about it."

 **Dallas, Texas**

The scene then shifted to the skies above the city known as "D-Town". A personnel-carrying helicopter raced through the air. One of the occupants, Theresa Rourke-Cassidy, was looking out at a window, gazing at the city below.

 _Incredible._ The Irish girl thought. _I knew that joining the West Coast Misfits would require us to do quite a bit of traveling, but wow._ She smiled slightly. _This is the first time I ever set foot in any American city. Da used to tell me about America when he did work for Interpol. I have to admit, this country is quite...fascinating._ She then frowned. _Those bloody Watchdogs...why do they have me so nervous? I mean, they're just regular humans. Compared to the things I fought in the past, they're just...people. Dangerous people, but still people._ "Where is Alison performing, exactly?" Theresa asked. Jinx, who was sitting next to her, pulled out her tablet and did some tapping on it.

"The American Airlines Center." Jinx answered, looking up from her tablet. "Concert capacity 21,000. Located in the Victory Park neighborhood. Built in 2001, it's the primary home of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, and the NHL's Dallas Stars."

"NHL?" The Irish girl blinked.

"National Hockey League." Jinx explained. "The Center is nicknamed 'The Hangar' because of it's Quanset hut-like appearance. Makes it look like an airplane hangar."

"Ah, I see." Theresa nodded in understanding. "I'm hoping that Alison turns out to be nice. I think I might end up losin' it if she turns out to be one of those stereotypical crude bratty 'divas' who act all over-the-top."

"I don't think we have to worry about it. From what I heard, Blaire is actually quite down-to-Earth." Jinx reassured.

"Well, that's good." Theresa smiled. "I can imagine that quite a few of those singers can be quite nice. I've been meaning to ask the Superstars about some of their encounters with other celebrities."

"Well, I can only speak for the Superstars, but they obviously are nice." Jinx said. The two remained silent for a moment. "So...have some nerves about this mission?"

"Admittedly..." Theresa nodded. "...aye."

"What about?"

"Well..." The Irish blonde sighed. "I was doin' some reading about the Watchdogs, and..." She looked at Jinx. "...they scare me." The pink-haired sorceress nodded. She had to remember that Theresa was new to the costumed life. Compared to her, the Indian hexcaster was an old veteran of it. Mostly as one of the villains, but still, she had experience.

"I see."

"It's just...well..." She sighed. "Some of the things they've done. They blew up buildings. Killed people. They..."

"Sounds like the Organization to me, but on a smaller scale." Jinx noted.

"Aye." Theresa shook her head. "Funny, I took on that corpulent curmudgeon and the Heartless and I don't blink. The Watchdogs are...nothing compared ta them. They're just angry men with fancy suits."

"I think you underestimate yourself, Terry." Jinx told her. "As you said, the Watchdogs are just angry men in fancy suits. You've handled worse."

"Aye, I suppose." Theresa agreed. "I guess I just have jitters. I mean, we're playin' bodyguards to a big-time celebrity. What if we screw up? What if those crazy people manage to get past us and hurt the Dazzler or worse?" The Irish second-generation mutant sighed. "I know Bart will be inconsolable if something happens to Alison."

"Terry, if you let those thoughts get to you, you _will_ mess up." Jinx warned. "I am not trying to put pressure on you or anything like that. Believe me. I'm just saying, the best thing you can do is be positive." She smiled. "You're not doing this alone, girl. You got the other Misfits, Lady Jaye and Flint, and..." She grinned. "Also, you're better at this than you think. You really aced it in the training."

"But this isn't training. This is real." Theresa frowned. "I'm a little worried that something unexpected will happen. The Joes are good, and they are not stupid, but even they can't prepare us for _everything_."

"That's why they teach us to adapt." Jinx answered. "Don't worry. We got this."

"Yeah, you're right." Terry nodded. "I think I can handle them."

"That's the spirit!" The pink-haired hexcaster smiled. Theresa looked out the window of the helicopter.

"Jinx, look out at the city." The Irish girl said. "There's so much rebuilding going on down there." Jinx looked out at another window. True to Theresa's statement, there were many buildings that had scaffolding and large cranes covering them.

"I'm not surprised." Jinx remarked. "I can imagine there would be a _lot_ of rebuilding needed after the Gathering raged around the world like it did."

"I think we did tend to forget our victory came at a price." Theresa sighed. "So much destruction...I can see why so many local-level superheroes hate us."

"It's not as bad as you think, Theresa." Jinx said. "Jake is exaggerating. Yeah, there are some locals who are angry at us..." The sorceress winced as she recalled seeing the an interview on TV with a local-level superhero named SuperPro, a Providence, Rhode Island-based football-themed superhero. She remembered his rage-filled ranting about the heroes who fought in the Gathering.

" _Bull! That's just bull! Those so-called 'heroes'! Doing their little touchdown dance! 'Look at us! We're so great! We won the Gathering!' Hey, let me tell you punks something! While you were all huddled up jerking around in LA, us locals were **bleeding** and **dying** out here! We Locals were busting our asses, holding the damn line so you punks could score the winning touchdown! You left us to rot, and none of you have the guts to come down here to any of our cities and admit to any of us Locals, to our **faces** , that you saw us as cannon fodder you can toss to the wolves when you clowns want to look like royal badasses! Well, screw all of you, then! If I ever see any of you bastards here in Providence, you'll be smashed, too! And that is a promise! Oh, and Superman? Hope you enjoyed that ass-whuppin' Kid Razor gave ya! I know I did! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA! You can go to Hell, too! Every single one of you so-called 'heroes' at the Gathering can all go straight to Hell with him!"_

Jinx sighed as her mind replayed it. Why did the brain hold on to such negativity? "Very angry. But I am hoping most of them understand."

"So do I." Theresa agreed. "I wish we could have helped them, but the Gathering had the priority."

"Yeah, it did." Jinx sighed sadly. "I'm hoping that they'll understand one day." Meanwhile, two other members of the West Coast Misfits were having a conversation of their own. Well, sort of. Longshot was nervously fidgeting in his seat. Next to him sat Jake Wildfire. The Red Dragon held a red Game Boy Advance SP in his hands, and he was quietly playing a video game.

"Jake?" The native of Mojoworld asked nervously. Jake continued silently playing his game. "Jake?"

"Huh?" Jake looked up at him.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, just playing some Fire Emblem. What's up?" The red-haired mutant asked.

"Well...I need some advice."

"About what?"

"Well..." Longshot fidgeted nervously. "I...That girl we're here to protect."

"Dazzler, yeah." Jake nodded. "What about her?"

"Well, I...I think she's rather...rather..." Longshot struggled to find the words.

"The way you were mooning over her in the briefing room, it's pretty obvious what you were thinking about her." Jake said.

"Yeah." Longshot admitted. "What do you know about...girls?"

"Skirt-chasing was never my thing, Longshot." Jake explained.

"But you did have feelings for a girl, right?"

"A 'girl' who was in her _twenties,_ Longshot." Jake reminded. "It was never going to be a thing."

"Ah." Longshot noted. "I was just wondering because...well...I want to know how to get a girl to...like me."

"Longshot, me and romance do not mix." Jake explained. "Why don't you ask Ace?" He jerked his thumb at Wildstar, who was happily bopping to some music. "He's Mr. Confidence when it comes to the ladies."

"I have considered that."

"Then what's stopping you?"

"Well..." Longshot sighed and brushed back his hair. "I'm kind of afraid he'd make fun of me." Jake blinked in surprise at that.

" _Wildstar?_ I doubt it." Jake waved it off. "I may not be his biggest fan, but I don't think he'd do that."

"You sure?"

"Yeah." Jake nodded. The two boys then were silent for a moment, Jake getting back to his game.

"...what is it that you are playing?" The Mojoworld native asked.

"Fire Emblem."

"What is that?"

"It's a tactical RPG." Jake explained. "I'm helping a girl prevent her power-hungry great-uncle from taking the throne of this fantasy land."

"Ah, I see." Longshot nodded in understanding. He then blinked. "What's a tactical RPG?"

Jake fought the urge to sigh. Loudly. "Well, it's kind of hard to explain." The redhead struggled to come up with said explanation. "Well, it's a form of role-playing game that requires you to think about things like where to place your characters, their strengths and weaknesses, the terrain's effects on them, that kind of thing."

"You like those games?"

"All my life." Jake said. "The first of those games I played was _Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen._ " Jake smiled fondly. "My dad for Christmas got me an old SNES with a bunch of games with it. I enjoyed the other games, but Ogre Battle quickly became a favorite. Tough as hell, but I discovered I had a knack for strategy thanks to those games."

"Wow." Longshot smiled. "Do you still have this game?"

"Yeah, I still have it." Jake nodded. "It and all my other old SNES games. Even added some more to my collection since then."

"That's nice. But this doesn't help me with my problem."

"I'm sorry, Longshot." Jake said. "But I can't help you. I don't know what to say."

"I'm sorry to bother you."

"It's fine, Longshot." Jake sighed. "I am sorry. Just go talk to Ace. I'm sure he can help you there, Mr. Confidence and all that."

"I will do that." Longshot nodded. The two boys then were silent for a while. "Jake?"

"Mm?"

"Do you...do you hate me?"

Jake blinked at that. "...what?"

"Do you hate me? Well, the rest of us." Longshot asked. "You hardly talk to us. In fact, that briefing was the most you had in a while. Why do you not speak to us? Do you hate us?"

"It's...complicated, Longshot." Jake admitted with a sigh.

"How?"

"Well..." Jake tightened his lips in thought. "It's not that I hate you or anyone on this team, it's just..." He ran a hand through his bright red hair. "I never really liked being on this team."

"Is that why you barely talk to anyone on this team except in briefings?"

"Pretty much." Jake admitted. "I try not to be reminded that I'm still on this team after that Gathering stuff. If I keep to myself, maybe I can just pretend that I'm home in some way."

"That's...sad."

"Well, it's not like I got much of a choice." Jake grumbled. "I don't hate you, Longshot. I hate this team. I hate the Joes. I just hate this so much. I helped save the world, and I got nothing for it." He sighed. "I never really wanted to be part of this superhero crap."

Longhsot blinked. "Really?"

"Really." Jake nodded. "When I first got my powers, I was freaked out and frightened like anyone would be. But over time..." He shrugged. "I came to accept them as just a thing I have. My brother was so envious." Jake chuckled. "He wanted to be a superhero. He was nuts for them. I, however..." He shook his head. "I wasn't."

"Why don't you like superheroes?"

"I always thought of the whole superhero thing as...kind of silly." Jake explained. "I mean, putting on goofy colorful costumes to punch people on other goofy colorful costumes? Seems kind of ridiculous to me."

"So, why did you agree to help General Whithalf?" Longshot asked.

"Well..." Jake leaned back. "As much as I hated the idea of being part of the spandex set, I knew that I couldn't live with myself if I did nothing to stop the Hellfire Club when Whithalf told me about them."

"Well, it is good that you decided to help anyway."

"I thought he'd leave me alone, let me go home and just be a regular person." Jake sighed. "How naïve I was."

"Is that why you are so angry at them?"

"Maybe. I guess." Jake shrugged. "I just want to have a normal life, Longshot. Let Kyle do this crazy crap. He loves this stuff. But the Joes don't care."

"...I think they do." Longshot said. "If they did not, they would have left you and Kyle to be hurt by the Hellfire Club. Why do you not seem to understand this?" Jake sighed.

"Despite my disdain for the superhero life, I agreed to help Whithalf." Jake explained. "Because I wanted to protect my family. When he told me and Kyle what kind of people the Hellfire Club were...I realized they had to be stopped."

"...you feel Whithalf tricked you into taking up a life path you had no desire to walk."

"Now you get it."

"Have you told any of the others this?"

Jake shook his head. "Why bother? They don't care. They won't listen to me. They never do."

"Maybe because you barely ever talk to them." Longshot suggested. "And when you do, you..." The Mojoworld native winced, hoping his choice of words was appropriate. "...do tend to come off as..." Jake looked at him emotionlessly, which made Longshot more nervous. "...a bit...fearsome?" To his surprise, Jake only shrugged. Longshot slowly released the breath he had no idea he was even holding. Sensing how heavy it was feeling, the artificial lifeform decided to change the subject.

"Are you excited to meet the Dazzler?"

Jake shrugged. "Meh. Her music isn't really my cup of tea."

"I have never heard it myself."

"Maybe you should ask Bart to let you listen to some of her music." Jake suggested, pointing at the younger mutant. The Alabaman mutant was happily bopping to some music in his own iPod. "He's a big ol' Dazzler fanboy."

"Yes, he was very excited to see her." He looked at Jake. "What musicians get you excited?"

"Deep Purple." Jake said. "You heard of them?" Longshot shook his head. "Don't blame you, they're an old band. First started in 1968. They broke up for a while in 1976, then reformed in 1984. They've been around ever since. My favorite song of theirs is 'Perfect Strangers'. I want to use it when I step in the wrestling ring as my theme song."

"Ah, I see." Longshot smiled. "You think she's beautiful? I think she is?"

"Blondes ain't my type." Jake answered. "I prefer brunettes."

"Oh."

In the cockpit of the helicopter, Lady Jaye was behind the stick, and Flint was sitting in the co-pilot's chair. The brunette javelin-wielding Joe sighed.

"We need to talk, Flint." She said to the warrant officer.

"About what?"

"The way you've been acting since I...returned." She said.

"What's with it?" Flint blinked in confusion.

"You've been acting rather...clingy lately." Lady Jaye explained. "It's starting to creep me out."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Seeing me lose my heart really hit you hard, huh?"

"...I don't like to talk about it, Alison."

"You should, Dash." Lady Jaye encouraged. "It would help." Flint stared ahead silently.

"Alison...when your heart was taken by the Heartless, I... " The warrant officer shook his head. "After that whole thing with the Gathering, I was so overjoyed when you came back." He sighed. "I don't feel comfortable talking to you about this."

"You should talk about it, Dash." Lady Jaye said. "The others told me that you were very hit hard when my heart was taken. You acted like I was really dead."

"...it seemed like you were." Flint admitted. "They said you'd come back, but there was no guarantee." He sighed. "What frightened me was...what if it didn't work that way? What if...you were gone for good?"

"Luckily, it didn't."

"...the kids took it hard."

"I heard."

Flint sighed. "Jaye...Alison...when your heart was taken...I felt like mine was taken as well. You know I had a bit of a thing for you when I met you?" Lady Jaye chuckled.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"I thought you were an arrogant jackass." Lady Jaye admitted. "I mean, you had a loud mouth, and you were _so_ full of yourself."

"Yeah." Flint nodded. "Yeah, I was. I remember you punched me out once."

"Yeah, during a mission in Borovia." Lady Jaye recalled. "You did deserve it."

"Yup. I was out of line there." Flint confessed. "You were right about that." He rubbed his jaw reflexively. "It's good to have you back."

Lady Jaye smiled. "It's good to _be_ back."

 **The American Airlines Center**

A police officer stood near the center's helipad. His medals and insignia indicated he was a police chief. Next to him stood Shooting Star, a scowl on her face, and her arms crossed. The officer, a Mexican-American man in his early 40s with a neat mustache and short-cut black hair, turned to the blonde heroine.

"They should be here soon." He told Shooting Star.

"If ya say so, Novarro." She grunted. "I don't get why they thought I needed _their_ help."

"Well, to be fair, you could use the help." Chief Joshua Navarro reminded Shooting Star. "What with the other Rangers taking care of things in their homes after that Gathering thing, and...well, with what happened to the Texas Twister..." He sighed as Shooting Star bowed her head. "I am sorry. He was a good man."

"Those damned Misfits didn't care what happened to him." Shooting Star growled. "Those cattle rustlers just jerked around in Los Angeles doing God knows what while Drew and I nearly got killed several times over fighting the Heartless here all alone. None of the other Rangers could help us. All of us Locals got left to die. Did you know not one of the heroes who fought at the Gathering came by to visit any of the Locals? See if we were all right? Not even Superman did that. _Superman!_ "

"To be fair, Star, I imagine they were wrecked themselves after a battle like that and were unable to help the Locals with any cleanup." Novarro countered. "Dallas looked like a damn warzone after the Gathering hit. I can't imagine what the rest of the country looked like."

"Yeah." Shooting Star sighed. "But still, I don't blame Kid Razor for what he did. Yeah, he was crazy, but...who could blame him? Superman didn't give a damn. None of those so-called 'heroes' at the Gathering cared."

"Well, you should at least try to be civil." Novarro advised. "They're just here to help protect the kid and her show. Then they'll be gone."

"Hopefully, those polecats will _remain_ gone afterwards." The blonde grumbled. She and Novarro looked up and saw the helicopter coming down. The two held their hats to their heads to keep them from blowing away in the winds the helicopter's rotor blades were kicking up. The two waited for the helicopter to shut down. Flint and Lady Jaye were the first to leave the helicopter. The West Coast Misfits followed afterward.

"Chief Joshua Novarro? Flint of GI Joe." The two shook hands.

"Nice to meet you, Flint." Novarro smiled. "Gotta say, it's a bit of an honor."

"Shooting Star, I presume?" Lady Jaye smiled, holding out her hand for a handshake. The heroine just crossed her arms and glared at the javelin-wielding Joe. "Not a fan of handshakes, I see. I'm Lady Jaye of GI Joe, this is Flint, and-"

"I _know_ who you are." Shooting Star said to them icily. "I've seen you all on TV."

"Be nice..." Novorro smirked, lightly nudging her with his elbow. Shooting Star glanced at the West Coast Misits, all in costume.

"Misfits, huh? Where's the actual team, too busy doing talk shows?"

"The east coast team are in Montana, dealing with a rogue superhuman." Flint explained. Shooting Star snorted.

"Figures. Don't want to face any Locals, I bet." She retorted, her voice still icy. Jinx watched this exchange with a dropped jaw.

"Wow." The pink-haired teen magician mumbled. "Just...wow."

A smirking Jake approached her ear. "I told you." She shot him a look.

"What do you want, a medal?" The Indian girl grumbled.

"No." Jake scowled. "I just wanted to remind you that I told you that Shooting Star may not really like the idea of working with us. Just remember, Jinx: She has a damn _right_ to be angry at us."

"I want to make one thing clear to y'all." Shooting Star said to Flint. "I don't _like_ you, Joe. I don't like _any_ of you Joes or your pet superpunks. As far as I'm concerned, you're just as responsible as the Heartless are for why Dallas is in the state it's in now. A lot of people died here, this city got smashed to Hell, and as far as I'm concerned, that's also on you, because none of you actually got up and helped out here."

Flint growled, but Lady Jaye's hand on his shoulder helped calm him down. "Shooting Star, we did not fight at the Gathering because we wanted to leave you or anyone else to die. We had to cut off that Organization XIII snake at the head. We couldn't help you or any of the Locals in your homes. It was kind of a desperate situation, and none of us knew how to contact any of you."

"So, instead of actually _trying_ , y'all figured, 'Okay, screw the Locals', right? To Hell with us Locals, right?" Flint sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"No, Shooting Star." Flint bit out. "This is the first I ever _heard_ of you. Look, Star. I know quite a few of you Locals are angry about the Gathering, but we didn't fight there for personal glory or because we wanted any Local Heroes to suffer or get killed. We fought there because it was the quickest way to end the Gathering. We _had_ to take the fight to Organization XIII. It was the only way to end this thing with minimal loss of life. A lot more people would have died if we didn't engage them there. That's the truth."

"And I'm sure that the families of the dead here will find that _very_ comforting." Shooting Star sneered.

"Say, why don't we introduce the kids to the Dazzler?" Lady Jaye suggested in an attempt to calm things down. "Impulse here is a huge fan of hers, and he's real excited to meet her." Bart happily bounced up and down and nodded his head.

"That's a great idea." Novarro nodded quickly in agreement.

"Fine." Shooting Star grumbled. "Let's go." She led the group into the building.

"Sheesh, are _all_ interactions with local-level superheroes in the future going to be like this?" Flint grumbled. Jake snickered.

"You guys should not be surprised." The Bostonian redhead cracked. "They had to hold the line, and nobody warned them." Bart watched this in concern.

"Theresa?" He whispered.

"Yes, Bart?"

"Are all the Locals this mean? First, Kid Razor, now her. Are they all this mean?"

Theresa sighed. "Well, I can imagine a lot of the Locals went through a ton of terrible stuff during the Gathering, Bart. They also had to deal with a lot of it alone, through no fault of their own. "

"I hope not." Lady Jaye sighed. "Anyway Flint, you excited to meet the Dazzler?"

Flint frowned at his wife. "Do I _look_ like the target demographic for her music?"

"You know, Mr. Flint, I have all her music on my iPod." Bart piped up. "I can let you borrow it if you want to listen to it."

"Uh...thanks but no thanks, kid." Flint waved it off. "You enjoy it."

Lady Jaye smiled. "I don't think I'll get you to ever broaden your musical horizons."

"I got no issue with broadening my musical horizons, I just feel I'm a bit old for teenyboppers." Flint explained. Chief Navarro had approached the two.

"To be honest, I'm not quite sure you guys are here. I mean, I'm sure the police and Shooting Star can handle some angry manchildren." The policeman wondered.

"Alison Blaire has just made herself one of the world's most prominent mutants." Flint explained. _And unlike the Superstars, she_ _ **chose**_ _to reveal her mutantcy._ "That can make her a big-time target for anti-mutant hate groups." Meanwhile, Jake had slowly approached the Texan woman.

"I knew this would happen." Jake said to her.

"What, you can predict the future?" Shooting Star cracked.

"No. But I figured this would happen."

"What do you want, a medal?"

"No. But I do want you to know something."

"What's that?"

"I get it." Jake said. Shooting Star blinked in surprise. "I get it. I get why you're angry. And you have your reasons to be. I'm from Boston. I wish I could've gone back there and helped. I'm just grateful my family made it through alright."

"Good for you."

Jake looked at the Texan heroine. "You know, I was not brought onto this team willingly?"

"Really?"

"Nope." Jake said. "The Joes dumped me on this team because they wanted to keep me secret. My little brother and I were working undercover feeding info to GI Joe about the Hellfire Club's activities. The X-Men had a spy there, too. So, we decided to work together."

"Let me guess, you got stabbed in the back."

"Not by her." Jake said. "The Hellfire Club were close to discovering her being a spy for Xavier. So to save her, my little brother and I revealed ourselves to them. We fought our way out, and since the Joes _love_ keeping secrets, they decided to dump us on this team."

"Huh." Shooting Star noted. "That sucks."

"Yup." Jake nodded. "So yeah, I get what it's like to feel stabbed in the back." Meanwhile, Chief Navarro was talking to Jinx and the adult Joes.

"So, little lady. You lead that bunch?" The Mexican-American officer asked the pink-haired girl, pointing at the other West Coast Misfits, who were conversing amongst themselves.

"Yeah." Jinx nodded. "I ended up leading this bunch. They're my bunch, though."

"Well, that's nice." Navarro nodded. He then realized something, and frowned at Jinx. "Say...didn't you fight those Titans kids at Jump City a long time ago? One of those bee kids?"

"Bee?" Jinx was confused by the reference for a second, but she ended up getting it. "Oh yeah, you mean The HIVE. Yeah, I used to be a part of the HIVE, but not anymore. I was kicked out after I decided to help the Titans fight a demon alongside the X-Men and Misfits."

"So you're one of the good guys now?"

Jinx shrugged. "Pretty much. After I was expelled, GI Joe took me in. It wasn't like I had anywhere else to go."

"You had no family to turn to?" Navarro asked.

"No." Jinx shook her head. "HIVE was the first thing that remotely resembled a family I had in years. At least, I thought they were." She sighed. "I did find a couple of friends there. They stayed with the HIVE when I was expelled. Last I heard, they left themselves after the Gathering ended, and they're trying to figure out what to do next. I suggested they join me in the West Coast Misfits, but they turned it down. Still claimed heroism wasn't for them. I think they have it in them, if they give it a try." Jinx smiled. "But, despite all that, I'm pretty happy now. I miss my old friends, but I'm glad they got out, and I do hope they find somewhere for them."

"Kind of hope they do to, and it doesn't involve them causing trouble." Navarro said.

"So do I." Jinx smiled. The group approached a door that had two officers flanking it. On it was a decoration of a golden five-pointed star with the word "DAZZLER" over it in blue lettering. Bart jumped up and down excitedly.

"It's her! It's her it's her it's her!" Bart babbled. Longshot found his heart racing. Jake scowled.

"Get yer head in the game." He growled at Longshot.

"I'm going to go in and warn her about you." Shooting Star told the group. She then knocked and went inside.

 _ **Well, well, well! Looks like our heroes have some issues going on? Can they heal things with Shooting Star? Can the West Coast Misfits successfully protect the Dazzler? Will she get along with them? Find out in the next chapter!**_


	3. Conversations!

**Dazzled in Dallas**

 **Disclaimer: "You got me on a technicality." Jirard Khalil, _The Completionist._**

Chapter 3: Conversations!

 **A warehouse in Dallas**

Inside this warehouse, a group of men were meeting. They were dressed in purple bodysuits with orange armor, gloves, and boots. They had sat at a round wooden table, with cups and several jugs of ice water in the center. They were a local cell of the Watchdogs. A screen was mounted in front of the table. The men were chatting amongst themselves.

"I hope this is quick." One of the Watchdogs said to another, pulling up his glove to reveal a watch. "I have Daisy for the weekend, and I want to take her to that museum today."

"Oh, they managed to repair it already?" The other said. "Damn, that was fast."

"Yeah, and I'm grateful for it." The first Watchdog grunted. "We wouldn't have had to deal with hose monsters if those freaks went away. I swear, they only care about themselves, the selfish pricks."

"That's why we're here, dog-brother Dawson." The other Watchdog smiled. "If there's to be any normalcy in this world, those freaks gotta go down."

"Daisy is a big of Shooting Star, Wilder." Dawson smiled. "Thank God she's actually not one of those freaks."

"Mm." Wilder agreed. "I got kids myself. I joined the Watchdogs for them. I don't want them to grow up in a world where mutants will make their lives hell." Another Watchdog walked into the room. This one had a silver stylized dog's head logo on his helmet, indicating that he was the Pack Leader of this particular Dogpound. At his arrival, the other Watchdogs quieted down and stood at attention.

"Gentlemen." The Pack Leader looked around at his men. All were rapt at attention. "As you all know, the mutie Dazzler is getting ready to perform tonight in our fair city. This blonde freak wants nothing more to poison the minds of our children. And since the so-called authorities in this city allow her to slither into our city like the snake she is, we'll have to deal with her ourselves."

"The threats clearly didn't scare her off." Dawson muttered.

"We have a bigger problem, Pack Leader." Another Watchdog piped up, raising his hand.

"Go ahead, Dog-Brother Collins."

"Well, the thing is..." Collins rubbed the back of his head in concern. "The threats didn't scare the freak off. She got more protection instead."

"What kind of protection?" Pack Leader asked. "We know that race traitor Shooting Star is watching over her."

"Well..." Collins got up from his seat. "May I?" Pack Leader nodded. The Watchdog picked up a remote and pressed a button on the screen. It showed am image of the West Coast Misfits. "As you can see, Pack Leader, she now has the West Coast Misfits protecting her."

"Oh, the _West_ Coast team." Dawson smirked, jabbing Wilder with his elbow. "Ah, we don't have anything to worry about, then. They're pushovers."

"Yeah." Wilder agreed with a chuckle. "They're a joke. Not like the originals. They're real badasses."

"Still, they are Misfits. So we should be worried." Pack Leader warned. "They may be a joke, but still. We should not underestimate them."

"They _are_ a joke, Pack Leader." Wilder insisted. "What have done since they were formed? Their East Coast-based counterparts stopped the Gathering of Twilight."

"Every superteam has had their first adventure at some point." Pack Leader said sagely. "They only have their joke reputation because it's assumed they played no real role in stopping that Gathering thing."

"They didn't do anything." Dawson said. "If they did, those freaks and their Joe masters are being very tight-lipped about it."

"You surprised?" Collins scoffed. "They're military. And we all know the military love their secrets..."

"Indeed." Pack Leader nodded. "But I have prepared for them."

"How?" Collins asked. Pack Leader smirked.

"Wonderful thing about the black market..." Pack Leader waved. A couple other Watchdogs pushed some objects into view, covered by a white tarp. The leader of the Dogpound gripped the tarp in an orange-gloved hand. "You can find the most useful stuff." He pulled the tarp away dramatically, making the Watchdogs gasp.

"Oh ho ho _ho!_ " Dawson giggled in glee. "Look at that stuff!"

"Wow." Collins gaped.

"You know, I know Pack Leader said that he got his stuff from the black market, but I wonder where the black market got that stuff." Wilder whispered to another Watchdog, a man named Harris.

"Smuggled from super-battles, taken from evidence rooms, who knows?" Harris shrugged. He then looked at some of Pack Leader's gifts and winced slightly.

"Something wrong, Harris?" He asked.

"Well, I have to admit something." Harris frowned. "I'm not comfortable with fancy tech like this."

"Are you _kidding,_ man?!" Dawson exclaimed. "Look at this stuff! We'll be able to get that mutie freak for sure with this stuff!"

"It's a new world, my friend." Pack Leader told Harris. "And we Watchdogs must adapt to it."

"Yeah." Dawson agreed with a wide grin. "We're going up against a bunch of freaks. We're going to need some heavier firepower to face them. Who knows what kind of powers they're packing."

"Oh, I do get it, don't get me wrong. It's just...I do not understand all this technology." Harris sighed, shaking his head. The Pack Leader nodded in sympathy.

"Well, don't you worry about that, Harris." The Pack Leader assured. "These things are so simple, even you'll get the hang of them."

"Hope so." Harris shook his head. "I still have trouble understanding my kids' phones."

"Hopefully with this stuff, we can whup some freak ass!" Wilder whooped, pumping his fist.

"Indeed, my friends." The Pack Leader smiled. "We will restore this great nation to its glory. And purging the world of immoral elements like the mutants will do that. Now on to other business. We're all still planning to take on the Pin Pals on Friday night, right?"

"Naw, they haven't finished rebuilding the bowling alley yet." Collins shook his head. "Won't be done for another couple of months."

 **The American Airlines Center**

Shooting Star emerged from the door. She looked over at the West Coast Misfits.

"Alright, she's ready to meet you. Try not to make idiots out of yourselves." Shooting Star said. _Although considering I'm dealing with the_ ** _West_** _Coast Misfits, they'll find a way to do it anyway._

"She means **_you._** " Jake growled at Longshot, who only responded with a blink of confusion.

"I think she meant all of us, Jake."

"Unlike you, I can act like a damned professional."

"As the lady said, kids." Flint said. "Be on your best behavior." Jake found himself slightly rolling his eyes at that.

 _Yeah, good luck with that, Flint._ The redheaded dragon-themed mutant grumbled.

"This is going to be fun." Jinx smirked at Theresa, who only nodded.

"I know. I'm so excited, I've never met a pop star in person before." The Irish second-generation mutant concurred, an excited grin on her face. The kids walked inside, and they were agape at the sight.

Alison Blaire. The Dazzler. She was sitting in front of a vanity mirror that had lights surrounding it. She looked at the West Coast Misfits with a smile on her face. She was dressed in a silver-and-pink top and blue jeans. She got up with a smile on her face.

"Hi!" She greeted warmly.

"OHMYGODIT'SSOCOOLTOMEETYOUIAMSUCHAHUGEFAN!" Bart babbled excitedly as he zipped up to Alison, took her hand and started shaking it quickly.

"Uh, thanks, heh heh..." Alison chuckled.

"Bart..." Lady Jaye sighed, gently pulling Bart away from the singer. "We talked about this on the way here." She smiled at Alison. "Sorry about this. Impulse here is a big fan of yours, and he's been excited to meet you for a while."

"Eh, it's alright." Alison reassured with a smile as she waved her hand to get the feeling back into it. "I'm used to it by now."

"God's sake, Bart..." Jake grumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose. He then noticed Longshot gazing dreamily at Alison. The redhead glared. "Get your head in the damn game!" He whispered harshly, then gave the artificial lifeform a light punch the on the shoulder.

"Ow!" Longshot frowned at Jake, rubbing his shoulder. "What was that for?"

"You were staring at her like a lovestruck moron."

"That didn't mean you had to do that." Longshot pouted.

"Thank you all for coming." Another woman, this one clearly significantly older as indicated by the lines on her face and the gray streaks amongst her black hair. However, they only seemed to enhance her beauty. She wore a dark blue jacket and matching slacks and shoes. She also had on a green blouse, and a pearl necklace around her neck.

"And you are..." Flint asked.

"Isabella Blaire." The elder woman introduced herself.

"She's my grandma." Alison smiled.

"I can see where she gets her looks from." Ace noted. "I imagine in her younger years, she was quite the looker." Jinx rolled her eyes.

"She's some kind of big figure in New York." Shooting Star rolled her eyes. "Like that means a hill of beans here."

"Wait, you're _the_ Bella Blaire!" Lady Jaye realized.

"Guilty as charged, my dear." Bella smiled.

"Who?" Flint asked.

"Don't encourage her." Shooting Star groaned.

"The famous club owner." Lady Jaye explained. "You own the Starlight Club in New York."

 _Oh, wonderful._ Jake rolled his eyes.

"As well as in several other places." Bella explained. "And that's not my only business."

"Grandma was a big figure in New York." Alison explained.

"Was?" Bella jokingly raised a perfectly-maintained eyebrow.

"You know what I mean, Grandma." Alison smiled cutely at her grandmother.

"These are the West Coast Misfits." Lady Jaye introduced, waving at the kids and pointing each of them out. "Jinx, Siryn, Wildstar, Longshot, Impulse..." The javelin-throwing Joe had noticed that Jake had taken up an isolated corner of the room, where he leaned against the wall with arms crossed and head down, like he had fallen asleep or was deep in thought. "...and Red Dragon."

"Pleasant one, ain't he?" Alison grinned, pointing at Jake with her thumb.

"Jake is...moody." Flint explained.

"Moody is an understament." Bart quipped. "He's angry because we got him to leave his cave."

"Shut up, Bart..." Jake grumbled.

"We had to get the bargain basement team because the real team was busy." Shooting Star taunted. Alison blinked at that.

"What is your deal?" She asked the heroine.

"They're a joke." Shooting Star answered.

"You know, we're standing right here." Theresa frowned.

"And look how much I care." Shooting Star smiled at the blonde Irish girl.

"Star, be nice..." Navarro warned.

"You must be quite concerned about your granddaughter if you wanted the Texan authorities to call us in." Flint said to Bella.

"Oh, I take those threats quiet seriously, Mr..."

"Call me Flint, ma'am." The warrant officer smiled as he introduced himself, holding out his hand for a handshake. The club owner smiled and shook his hand.

"Flint, huh? Your parents are nature types?"

"It's codename, ma'am." Flint explained. "It's for security reasons."

"I see." Bella smiled. "Well, I'm sure that my granddaughter will be perfectly safe under the protection of a clearly tough and capable military man like yourself."

"Oh, I'm...glad you have such confidence in us." Flint laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head.

"Grandma, are you flirting with him?" Alison crinkled her nose in disgust.

"Of course not, my dear." Bella smiled. "I'm just paying a compliment to one of our fine fighting men."

"If she is, she should know..." Lady Jaye took Flint's hand. "He's married."

"Thank you..." Flint whispered gratefully at her.

"No problem."

"A shame." Bella shrugged. She then smirked at Lady Jaye. "You are one lucky woman."

"Thank you." Lady Jaye grinned.

"I'm Siryn, but ye can call me Theresa." The Irish girl greeted. "Theresa Rourke-Cassidy."

"Nice to meet you." Alison smiled. "I love your accent. Irish?"

"County Cork."

"Never been there. I did perform in Dublin a month ago. Beautiful city."

"If ye're a fan of archeology, ye'd love County Cork." Theresa said. "Lots of ruins there. Also a good place for birdwatching and whale-watching."

"I see. Is it where the Blarney Stone is?"

"Aye. It's a big tourist trap."

"I wish I got to see it." Alison smiled. "But I had to concentrate on preparing for my show in Dublin, so..."

"I'm sure it'll still be there when ye come around again."

Wildstar walked up to the blonde, and kissed the back of her hand. "Starr. Ace Starr." Ace introduced himself suavely. Alison smirked, and Jinx scowled.

"Think yourself a regular James Bond, huh?"

"Well, I am a bit of a fan of the movies." Ace smirked. "So, there is that."

 _Pete's sake..._ The Indian spellcaster groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Wildstar, knock it off." Flint rolled his eyes. Navarro chuckled.

"A bit of a flirt, huh?"

"Yeah. He is." Flint rolled his eyes. "He's quite popular with some of the local girls in town."

"I can imagine." Navarro chuckled. "He has that rocker aura about him."

"He comes from a family of rockers." Flint explained. "His cousins are in the Superstars together."

"I'm Jinx." Jinx smiled at Alison. "Don't mind Wildstar here. He thinks he's some kind of ladies' man."

"Jinx, huh?" Alison blinked. "Don't have a real name, or..."

"It's just Jinx." Jinx explained. "I've just gone by that for a long time." Alison then noticed a scowling Jake leaning against a corner away from the others, his arms crossed.

"What's his story?" She asked.

"Jake Wildfire, aka the Red Dragon." Jinx told her. "He was brought on to the team to protect him and his family, and he and his little brother have been pretty sour about the whole deal."

"So, like Witness Protection?" Alison figured.

"Sort of." Jinx nodded. "They helped infiltrate the Massachusetts Academy."

"That fancy school?" Alison blinked. "I know my father once got an invitation to a tour of that place. I was offered a scholarship there."

A curious Jinx raised an eyebrow. "Really?" Jake scowled.

 _Should've used_ _ **her**_ _to play spy!_ Jake mentally grumbled, glaring angrily at Flint.

"Turns out they were kind of a supervillain factory. Bit of a shame, though. The girls were hot." Ace smiled. Jake rolled his eyes.

 _Of **course** he'd say that..._ Jinx tried not to groan.

"They also were royal pains." Jake muttered. The sentence made his mind flash back to his time undercover. It made the redheaded Bostonian shake his head when he thought of Jennifer Stavros, aka the luck-manipulating Roulette. He remembered she would never leave him alone. The Hellions' blonde bombshell had gotten herself a bit of a thing for the draconic mutant. However, Jake was not into blondes, and he constantly tried to get it through her lovestruck head. He then though about the two other friends he and his brother had made there. He hoped they managed to find safety after they fled the Academy. He wanted to find them, but he feared the Joes would never let him do so. Another thing he would never forgive the elite anti-terrorist unit for.

"Seriously, Ace?!" Jinx exclaimed.

"Are ye really surprised at this point?" Theresa asked. "I mean, we both know Ace can have a bit of a one-track mind when it comes to girls."

"Tell me about it." Jinx grumbled as she pinched the bridge of her nose. Alison blinked at that.

 _Wow. She probably has a thing for lion guy there._ She thought.

Longshot quietly and nervously approached Alison, making Jake roll his eyes.

"Uh, um, hi." Longshot waved timidly.

"Oh, hello." Alison greeted. _That dude's got some weird hands, only three fingers and a thumb. But he is kind of cute, though..._ "Longshot, right?" Longshot nodded.

"I-I-I-I'm Shotlong, I mean, Songlhot, I mean! I mean!" Longshot stammered, making Alison giggle.

"Longshot! His name is Longshot!" Jake called out in an annoyed manner. "And he can't keep his head on the damn job!"

"Oh, look who woke up." Ace grinned. "Howdy, Jake!"

"Jake, take it easy!" Jinx tried to calm the redhead.

"He's here to do a job, not try and score a date!" Jake snapped.

"Jake, it's alright. He's knows what he's here to do!"

"Yeah, right!" Jake grumbled, throwing his hands up in the air. "I'm out of here!" He stomped out of the room.

"Yo Jake, we got a job here!" Ace explained.

"Red Dragon, get back here!" Lady Jaye ordered.

"Oh dear..." Bella winced. Navarro groaned and Shooting Star smirked.

"Well, well, well." Shooting Star snickered. "Looks like we got some chaos in the ranks. I bet this never happens among the actual Misfits."

"You'd be surprised, lady." Lady Jaye glared at the blonde cowgirl-themed heroine. Alison looked over at Longshot.

"I'll go find him." Theresa said, pursuing the Bostonian mutant.

"Get him back here."

"Boy, that guy is a regular source of sunshine, ain't he?"

"Jake..." Longshot sighed sadly. "He has...issues."

"I'll say."

"I..." Longshot blushed, making Alison giggle. "Oh, dear..."

 _Wow._ Alison thought. _He is kind of cute when he blushes._ "So...what's your superpower?"

Longshot took a breath in an attempt to calm himself. _It's okay, Longshot._ He mentally mumbled to himself. _Just imagine yourself performing at one of Mojo's shows..._ Doing so seemed to help boost his confidence a bit. "Well, I...I...I'm very agile."

"Neat. Show me."

"Not much room, I'm afraid." Longshot smiled.

"Yeah, fair enough. Got any other powers?"

"Well, I can be lucky." Longshot explained. "But there is a price for it."

"Lemme guess, you being lucky makes things unlucky for others or something like that."

"Sort of." Longshot confirmed. "I also have the power of psychometry."

"What's that?"

"When I touch something, I can get psychic impressions from it. Like when I touch a comb, it can tell me if it combed hair recently, and who's hair it combed."

"Oh, that's cool. I can imagine a detective finding that power very handy."

"Indeed." Longshot smiled. Alison giggled. _She has a pretty laugh..._

 _He's got a nice smile..._ Alison noted. Bella Blaire noticed Longshot's hands. She looked at Flint.

"Mr...Flint, right?"

"Yes?" The warrant officer said.

"...what is up with that boy's hands? I do apologize if I am being rude, but my curiosity got the better of me. Is he a mutant?"

"That's perfectly normal for him, Miss Blaire." Flint explained. "He's not a mutant, though. Let's just say he's not from around here."

"Oh, I see." Bella nodded in understanding. "He's from another planet? Like Superman and Starfire?"

"Kind of. Technically." Flint answered. "He's from another dimension."

"Oh." Bella blinked. "Like in Star Trek?"

"Yes, only not evil."

"You sure? He's not wearing a goatee." Bella quipped. Flint rolled his eyes.

"Let's just say you do not ever want to go there." The Joe shuddered. "Trust me on this, Miss Blaire." Meanwhile, Theresa had been hunting down Jake Wildfire. She eventually was successful in locating the dragon-themed mutant.

"Jake! Jake!" Theresa exclaimed as she ran after the redheaded Bostonian mutant, who was stomping down a hall. "Jake!" The mutant known as Red Dragon growled and whirled around at her.

"What do you _want,_ Siryn?!" He snapped in frustration.

"What was _that_ all about?!" The Irish mutant exclaimed. "Ye just losin' yer temper like that! That's so unlike ye!"

Jake growled, and brushed some of his hair out of his face. "My patience has been wearing _very_ thin lately!"

"Jake...I know ye're still angry about bein' on this team. I know ye hate it. But that didn't give ya no right to blow up like that!"

"Well, what rights _do_ I have, then?!" Jake yelled. "I hate being on this damn team! I hate it so much! I hate the Joes, I hate Whithalf, I hate being a damn superhero! I want out!" He roared, and showing surprising strength for his human form, grabbed a box and tossed it down the hall. The action made the Irish girl jump and gasp in fright. Jake breathed heavily and clutched his head. "I'm sorry, it's just...I want to go _home._ "

"Go home?" Theresa blinked. "Back to Boston, right?"

"Yeah." Jake sighed. "I never wanted this, Theresa."

"They said you agreed to help the Joes out when they told ye about the Hellfire Club. If you didn't want to help, why did you and Kyle agree to do it?"

"Well..." He leaned against a wall. "Kyle was all for it. He was a big superhero nut. I wasn't. Never was. But Whithalf said that if I have the power to help others, I should do it."

"So he appealed to your good nature."

"I may not like the idea of being a superhero, but I like bullies even less." Jake growled out. "That's what the Hellfire Club were like to me. A bunch of no-good bullies that needed to be stopped."

"Well, that's good of you."

"I'm sure you know this, but Kyle and I spent time at the Massachusetts Academy, undercover as spies."

"Aye. Ye met Tessa there, and you three ended up working together, right?"

"Yeah, she was spying for the X-Men." Jake recalled. Theresa giggled.

"I heard ye had a bit of a crush on her." Jake blushed a bit at that. "Ye totally did!"

"...shuddup." Jake muttered. "We figured working together would help out both the X-Men and the Misfits, considering they were supposedly on the same side."

"Considering the fights they've had, I wonder that meself. It's a bloody miracle they managed to work together enough to stop those Organization XIII jerks."

"Yeah. And considering the Misfits were stupid enough to keep our existence hidden from the X-Men..."

"Didn't they want to make sure you and Kyle were safe from the Hellfire Club?" Theresa asked. "You know, the less people knew, the safer you two would be?"

"I would like to remind you that there wasn't exactly a small number of people in the base we live at. And the Misfits all knew." Jake snorted. "It wasn't like there was no risk of our being alive leaking out anyway." He shook his head. "God's sake..."

"Jake, have you ever considered that maybe things would not be so bad for ye if ye, well...tired bein' more...optimistic about being a West Coast Misfit?"

"Theresa, what silver lining is there for me being on this team?"

"Well..." The Irish girl smiled. "I can imagine being surrounded by other people your age with superpowers must be nice. I know for me, me own powers manifesting was scary."

"How did your powers come about?"

"During a choir practice session." Theresa explained. "I spent much of my life in private schools. I also sang in the choir. I was singing, and boom, I put out a scream that blew out some windows." Jake sensed there was more to this, but the redhead opted not to press it. "How did your powers come about?"

Jake shrugged in response. "Not so dramatic, really. One day, I woke up and found myself floating above my bed."

"What about the fire breath?"

"My throat was feeling really warm. All the cold drinks in the world didn't help. Then one day, I was practicing flying when..." He held his hands out. "Fwoosh! Spittin' flames. I didn't discover the dragon form until much later." Jake scowled. "I don't like to talk about when I discovered the dragon form."

"I won't push it." Theresa nodded. She then smiled. "Ye know, Jake. This is quite nice, just talkin' to ye. You know, ya should consider opening up to us more often. Maybe ye won't be so miserable."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, ye hardly ever talk to us or hang out with us in any form. Ye do train, but you constantly keep to yerself. Heck, ye don't even _eat_ with us! Aren't ye the least bit lonely?"

"No." Jake said simply. "I have no desire to hang out with you."

"Why?" A confused Theresa asked. "I get that ye don't like being on this team, but don't ye think that you're being a bit unfair?"

"How am I being unfair?" Jake asked. "Theresa, let me remind you of something. You could have turned this down. You got to have a choice. I _didn't._ " He crossed his arms. "You joined this team because you thought this team would be fun."

"Bart and I joined you because you guys needed help at the Gathering." Theresa reminded. "After that whole thing with the hospital..." She sighed. "I felt really guilty. I couldn't save those kids. I could put out screams that can shatter walls, and I couldn't save them. And poor Rahne. I felt so bad for her." Jake thought about the Scottish mutant lycanthrope. He had maybe met her after the Gathering? He neither knew nor remembered. And quite frankly, he really did not care at the moment. "It's just...maybe if I couldn't save them...I could avenge them, ye know?"

"I hear you." Jake nodded in understanding. He had a _lot_ of hatred for the Hellions for what they had done. Shame that the Joes and the Gathering denied him any chance to get vengeance. "But nobody forced you or Bart to join up."

"Based on what you told me, Whithalf didn't force you or Kyle to help him either." Theresa pointed out.

"But he put us on this damned team, and we had no say on it!"

"He probably did plan to put you and Kyle on the Misfits, but maybe because of that whole thing with the Hellfire Club, he had to change them." She blinked at Jake. "That's why I think you're being a bit unfair to the Joes. They had to change their plans to protect ye, and that's not their fault."

"Why should I be fair to them?" Jake sneered. "They never were fair to me or Kyle."

"I think you're letting your bitterness do the thinkin' for ye." Theresa said. "I know ya feel the Joes lied to you, but maybe...maybe you put them on too hard a pedestal."

"Theresa, I never exactly admired them." He looked down at his costume. "I never wanted this."

"I have to admit, Jake..." Theresa took a seat next to the redheaded Bostonian. "I thought it was kind of silly, too. I mean, putting on these colorful costumes, tradin' punches with other people that also wore colorful costumes...a part of me thought it was a bit of lunacy."

"And yet, you still put one on and got into brawls with other people in silly outfits."

"True, that I did." Theresa nodded. "But I came to realize something."

"What?"

"Well..." The Irish girl smiled. "There was more to it than that. I felt like...I was doing some real good. Fightin' at the Gathering, it _was_ scary. But at the same time, I felt like I was helping really save the world."

"You were helping people at Moira's hospital." Jake reminded.

"True, but..." She sighed. "I was nice helping people at the hospital and all. But I kept thinking, 'I had these cool powers, but I don't really get to use 'em'."

"Powers don't make you special, Terry." Jake said. "Just because you have them doesn't mean you need to use them. There are lots of people that manage to do good without any superpowers."

"True, but I think about something Da said to me once."

"What's that?"

She smiled. "He said, 'God doesn't give you things you aren't meant to use'." Jake blinked.

"That sounds like something out of a movie."

"I know, it does sound silly, but..." The Irish girl shuffled in her seat a little bit. "It's what I believe." She smiled at him. "You have to admit, Jake. This is rather nice. Just talking to each other."

"Meh." Jake shrugged. "There's a dark side to that attitude, Theresa. There's no shortage of people that would get drunk on _any_ sort of power. If any of them got superpowers, you can bet they won't act with any sort of restraint."

"I like to think that's a minority." Theresa sighed. "This is _definitely_ the most I've spoken with you since I joined this team."

"Good for you."

"...I like talking with you." The Irish girl smiled. "You should talk to people more often. All I know about you is second-hand. The others say stuff, but they say you never talked much to them. And your brother is either always away, or rather cold towards everyone."

"Yeah, that's Kyle for you." Jake muttered.

"You have to admit, it is nice talking to me."

"If you say so."

Theresa smirked. "You're a stubborn ol' dragon, aren't ye?" Jake rolled his eyes.

"Whatever, Terry."

"Yup, definitely a stubborn old dragon." Theresa grinned. "Being on this team isn't the end of the world. You'll see, Jake. If ye just open yerself up an' let us befriend ye, you'll grow to like it."

"I doubt it."

"Will you give it a try, at least?"

Jake sighed. "I make no promises."

"I'll take it." Theresa smiled as she got up. "Ye want to go back to the others?"

"Ehhh, not right at the moment." Jake admitted. "I want to walk around, check things out."

"Alright." The Irish girl nodded. "I'll head back to the others and tell them I managed to calm ye down. Remember to keep yer Joe-Com on so we can call you if we need you."

"Yeah, thanks." Jake watched Theresa head back to the others. He sighed, got up, and walked off in the opposite direction. Back in the Dazzler's dressing room, Longshot watched Alison talk to the other West Coast Misfits, He had a bit of a dreamy smile on his face.

"Hey, buddy. You alright?" Longshot noticed Ace grinning at him.

"Oh. Hello, Ace." The artificial lifeform answered. 

"I see you're pretty sweet on Farrah Fawcett over there." He jerked his thumb at Alison.

"She is very beautiful..." Longshot admitted.

"Considering how bad you were stammering when you tried to talk to her, it's pretty clear the girl's got you loopy." Ace chuckled.

"...I guess." Longshot blinked. "She does have me rather...loopy. I tried to talk to Jake about it, but he was not much help."

"Yeah, I'm not surprised." Ace rolled his eyes. "That old dragon is not the social type. And I don't see him as a skirt-chaser."

"I worry about him." Longshot told the feral mutant. "It's not good to distance yourself from your friends."

"Yeah, but you can't help someone who has no desire to be helped, Longshot." Ace shrugged. "Ball's in Ace's court, really."

"He said you may be able to help me with my...Alison issue." Longshot recalled. "How do I get her to like me?"

"Well, man..." Ace started. "The thing you _have_ to keep in mind is this. If she ain't into ya, you have to let it go. Too many dudes never learn that lesson."

"So...if she is not 'into me'..."

"Just let it go, man." Ace repeated.

"I understand." Longshot nodded. "But what do I do if it turns out she _is_...into me?"

"Well..." Ace answered. "For one, don't be a jerk. All that will get you is a smack in the mouth. Also, try and develop a genuine interest in her and her interests. Give that a try."

"Uh, okay." Longshot nodded. He glanced at Alison, and took a breath. He slowly approached the blonde as she was talking to her grandmother. She turned and smiled at him, making the artificial lifeform gulp nervously and his heart beat fast.

"Hey there Longshot, right?"

"Uh, yeahyeahyeahyeah." Longshot mumbled nervously, wringing his hands. "Uhm...what do you...uh...like?"

"Me?"

"Y-yeah, yeah."

"Well, I love a good New York pizza, I love to sing." Alison started. She smiled at Longshot. "What're you into?"

"...stunts?"

"Stunts?"

"Yes, I'm a stuntman." Longshot said. "I worked as a stuntman in Mojoworld."

"Oh, like fight scenes in movies and stuff?" Alison asked.

"Yes-yes." Longshot nodded. "I would substitute for stars in stunts that would put them in danger."

"Wow, that's awesome! Did you double for anyone famous?"

"Well...no." Longshot admitted, rubbing the back of his head. "The movies I were in were not released here."

"Ah, the foreign film market. I see." Alison nodded in understanding.

"Yes. The...foreign film market." Longshot repeated awkwardly.

 _Oh yeah, foreign film market, alright._ An overhearing Ace chuckled. _Mojoworld can **definitely** count as foreign._

"Wow. I hope you never got any bad injuries." Alison blinked.

"Nothing I could not heal from." Longshot smiled. "And besides, I can be rather...lucky."

"Lucky, huh? That's helpful."

"Indeed. It's kind of one of my powers." Longshot explained. "My luck power is tied into how I use it. If I use it for selfish means, it can backfire on me."

"Well, that's one way to keep you out of trouble, I guess...heh heh." Alison snickered.

"So, what can you do?"

"My powers are...kinda stupid, really." Alison shrugged. "I can make light effects."

"Light effects?"

Alison nodded. "Yeah. What I can do is basically make pretty light shows." She shrugged. "I think it is really cool. I'm happy with it. I'm not really interested in the whole superhero stuff." Bella Blaire chuckled and glanced at Lady Jaye.

"Looks like my granddaughter has a suitor." She noted.

"I ca only imagine how awkward it will be explaining him to her parents." Lady Jaye sighed.

"Her father, you mean." Bella corrected. "My son Carter. He and I pretty much raised her."

"Wait, Carter Blaire, the lawyer?" Lady Jaye blinked.

"One and the same."

"Where's her mother? Did she pass away?"

Bella scowled in disgust. "Hardly. But she is dead to me."

"What happened?"

"Katherine...abandoned Carter and Alison when she was about three." Bella explained. "She was a singer who put the pursuit of fame over her family. It...had an effect on Carter."

"It did?"

"It embittered him in a way." Bella explained. "My poor boy wanted Alison to follow him into law. Alison is a smart girl, don't get me wrong, but she is a performer at heart."

"I take it Carter is none too happy with Alison being a performer."

"...I think deep down, he fears Alison will abandon him like Katherine did." Bella shook her head. "But I know my little lightengale there. She loves her father. She'll be a better woman than Katherine was."

"Lightengale?" Lady Jaye asked in amusement.

"It's a bit of wordplay on my part." Bella chuckled. "She has powers over light, and she sings like a nightingale."

"...I hope Carter took her news of her mutantcy well."

"Thankfully, yes." Bella nodded. "He's more scared than ever now. People have targeted him because of his lawyer work."

"Oh yes, he's been working on legal cases to help mutants, right?"

"Yes. I raised him well." Bella smiled proudly. "Carter can handle himself. He's a tough New York boy. It's Alison we fear for. The idea that there are people out there who want to harm or hurt her simply because she can create some sparkly effects." She shook her head sadly. "Look at her, Lady Jaye. A sweet girl, yet some only see her as a monster."

"Yeah, it can be unfair." Lady Jaye sighed. "And kids like them ended up saving the world." She noticed Jake walk back in. "Ah, the dragon returns."

"He certainly seems as surly as the dragon traditionally was." Bella chuckled.

"He wasn't always like this." Lady Jaye sighed. "When General Whithalf first met the Wildfire brothers, they were actually nice boys. Jake was rather reserved, and Kyle was loud, but nice boys. However, we had to hide them. We recruited them to go undercover at the Massachusetts Academy."

"The...Massachusetts Academy?" Bella blinked in confusion. "Carter got contacted by them. They claimed to be a school for the gifted."

"It was kind of like Xavier's Institute, but making supervillains." Lady Jaye explained. "They had trained teenage mutants to be agents for the Hellfire Club, a powerful cabal of rich mutants."

 _Huh._ Bella thought as Lady Jaye continued on. _I had **heard** of the Hellfire Club from some of the glitterati and rich types back home in New York, but I had heard it was just a fancy social club where some of its members were able to indulge in some rather...salacious activities. At least, that was the rumors I heard..._

"Jake and Kyle posed as students to investigate it. While there, they met another spy there. She was working for Xavier. They decided to pool their resources and work together. We got a _lot_ of information on the Hellions and Hellfire Club from them. However, there was a problem."

"...what kind of problem?"

"Well, they were on the verge of discovering the X-Men's spy. So, to save her, Jake and Kyle revealed themselves. They fought there way out. At the time, we are also forming a new Joe base in Malibu. So, we thought it would be safer for the Wildfire boys if we placed them there. And they did _not_ take it well."

"I see." Bella nodded.

"You are taking this rather well."

"My friend, my granddaughter has a superpower. We live in a world of mutants and magic, aliens and robots, gods and monsters. An evil social club is rather tame."

Lady Jaye chuckled. "Yeah, I guess you got a point there. Anyway, the Wildfire boys felt that we betrayed them, and they've been bitter ever since."

"Why not just let the boys go home?"

"Too dangerous. The Hellfire Club is out there." She sighed as she looked at Jake. "Those two are so bitter, and they only got worse after the Gathering. We did what we did to protect them, but they won't listen."

"Take it from me, Lady Jaye." Bella smiled, patting Lady Jaye's shoulder. "Sometimes the only way a person learns a lesson is the hard way."

 _ **Well, well, well. Looks like some new friends are being made! What insanity will happen next? Will romance blossom between Longshot and Dazzler? Will the Watchdogs ruin everything? Will the Red Dragon ever lighten up? Find out in the next chapter!**_


	4. Calm Before the Storm!

**Dazzled in Dallas!**

 **Disclaimer: "My brain hurts!"**

Chapter 4: Calm Before The Storm

 **Sydney, Australia**

A lanky teenage boy laid on a couch in the dressing room, watching something on a tablet. He had a pair of earbuds in his ears, concealed by his wild black hair. His eyes were chocolate brown, and the left one had a birthmark of a purple five-pointed star on it. He wore a black Kiss t-shirt with purple leather pants, held up by a black belt with silver studs on it, and a buckle in the shape of a purple five-pointed star. His hands were covered by a pair of biker gloves, and his wrists were adorned by bracelets of silver and purple.

 _ **Starchild. Real Name: Paul Starr. Birthplace: Los Angeles, CA. Affiliation: West Coast Misfits, Superstars (Vocals, Rhythm Guitar). Powers and Abilities: Can fire flashes of light that can hypnotize and lasers from birthmark-covered eye. Telepathic link with twin brother Craig. Talented gymnast and judoka.**_

He was watching the news on his tablet with a frown.

" _And in our top story tonight, the trial of the X-Men continues. Last week, it was announced that the parents and family members of several students of the Massachusetts Academy had filed a class action lawsuit against the X-Men. The suit has claimed that the deceased students were negligently murdered by the mutant vigilantes despite claims that the students, known as members of a group of supervillains called the 'Hellions' were brainwashed into evil. This has caused uproarious debate about the X-Men..."_ The app showed footage of a courthouse in Bayville. In front of it were protestors separated into two groups by the police. One side held up signs that condemned the X-Men. The other held up signs in support. People on both sides were yelling at each other, and it was looking like it was going to get rather ugly.

Paul sighed sadly, and closed the app on his tablet.

"Feeling down, Paul...it's not like you." Paul looked up and saw another boy staring at him. He looked identical to Paul, only his star birthmark was black in color. He wore a black leather jacket with studs on the lapels and small spikes on the shoulders. Underneath, he had on a Kiss "Revenge" t-shirt **1** , a pair of blue jeans that were held up by a black studded belt, and black sneakers.

 _ **Darkstar. Real Name: Craig Starr. Birthplace: Los Angeles, CA. Affiliations: West Coast Misfits, Superstars (Bass Guitar). Powers and abilities: Can fire flashes of light that can hypnotize and lasers from birthmark-covered eye. Telepathic link with twin brother Paul.**_

"Oh, hey Craig." Paul sighed. "Just hearing about the X-Men, and that lawsuit they're fighting." He shook his head. "Makes you wonder if all the fighting we did in the Gathering was worth it sometimes."

"Paul, there would always be ungrateful jerks." Craig pointed out. "That's life."

"I know." Paul nodded. "But it's not _that._ It's just...it feels like

"Does feel like it." Craig agreed with a nod. "The FOH are still around, a rift opened up in the superhero community, Superman got beaten within an inch of his life by Kid Razor, which messed him up badly..."

"And the X-Men are getting a lawsuit." Paul sighed. "It's like the universe is trying to undo all the good that was accomplished in the Gathering."

"Eh, I don't think so." Craig shook his head. "I think it's something else."

"What?"

"...We fought a war, Paul. And we're paying the price for it." Craig said. "That's what it is. Victory always comes at a price, brother. The Locals bled and suffered so we would win. That's why Kid Razor attacked Superman."

"And it didn't help that Razor _hated_ Superman..."

"The Hellions' families lost them." Craig continued.

"And yet, they blame the X-Men." Paul sighed. "If the X-Men had known what the Hellfire Club had done to the Hellions, they would have tried to help them." A thought then hit him. "Why didn't Jake and Kyle say anything about this? I get they hate the Joes, but..."

"They probably didn't know. Hell, Sage worked directly with the Inner Circle and never discovered it." Craig said. "Keep in mind, the Wildfires were checking on Frost's school. They weren't looking into the Inner Circle directly." The LA native recalled some of the tales Kyle told about the Hellions in a civilian setting. Hard to believe they were the same monsters that seemed like ordinary, if not a bit haughty, bunch of teenagers. But then again, that probably was the ultimate tragedy of the Hellions. Kids of the rich and powerful, turned into soldiers of a cabal whose lust for power would have brought the destruction of the world.

"Yeah." Paul sighed. "Still, it seems so unfair. It feels like for any good we do, the world turns around and gets worse. The X-Men lawsuit, the local level superheroes hate our guts, our careers took a hit..." Paul shook his head.

"We've lived through worse, brother." Craig showed a rare smile. "The world may take us on, but we Starrs are survivors. We'll get through this."

"I hope so." Paul laid back sadly. Craig blinked.

 _This is weird._ He thought. _Normally, I'm the pessimist, and he's the optimist. This damn Gathering has twisted the world up._ He then turned his head when he heard a sound. The source turned out to be a brunet woman, wearing a jean jacket, a Superstars t-shirt, jeans, and a pair of cowboy boots. Sgt. Paige Adams had walked in. Paul smiled a bit and sat up at her presence.

"Hey, Sarge." Paul greeted. "Or should I say...Mayday?"

"Thanks, Starchild." The mutant sniper smiled. After the events of the Gathering of Twilight, Adams got promoted to the Joe team, complete with a codename.

"How you feeling about being a full-on Joe now?"

"It's...a bit overwhelming. In a good way." Mayday answered, still beaming. "I've wanted to be a Joe for a long time, and I finally did it. To be honest, I never thought all I had to do to be one was bodyguard a bunch of teenage rockstars."

"A bunch of teenagers who happen to be superpowered people who helped save the world." Paul countered

 **Dallas, Texas.**

Alison Blaire had been walking around the stadium, looking for Jake Wildfire. He was the only one of the West Coast Misfits that she never really got to talk to...his earlier outburst aside. Still, she wanted to find the young mutant known as the Red Dragon. She found said West Coast Misfit member sitting on a box of equipment, listening quietly to an iPod, bobbing his head to the music. The blonde New Yorker smiled and walked over to the Boston native. "Hey yo, Dragon!" Jake looked up and blinked.

"Huh?" Alison gestured at her ear. "Oh." He took his earbuds out. "What do you want?"

"Just want to see how you were doing."

"Well, I'm fine. You can go now."

Alison smirked. "Not the social sort, are you?"

"Not since I got stuck on this stupid team." Jake grumbled.

"It could be worse. You could be in jail."

"At least in jail, I might get a cell to myself." Jake rolled his eyes. "Can't you go away?"

"...what you got playing there?" She pointed at his iPod.

"Just some band I like." Jake shrugged.

"Really? Which band?"

"They're an old band. Real legends." Jake explained, trying to end the conversation.

"What's the band's name?"

"I doubt you have ever heard of them." Jake frowned at the blonde. "They're an old band."

"Try me." Alison smirked. "You'd be surprised."

"I doubt it." Jake frowned. "Considering the kind of music you make, I highly doubt you'd get into these guys. Unlike you, they actually had talent." Alison scowled.

"Don't you think you're being a little bit unfair with that remark?" A clearly-insulted Alison said. "I get you're all Mr. Angry at the World, but that doesn't give you any right to talk to me like that."

"...Fair point." Jake admitted. "I still don't think this band is your cup of tea, though."

"Try me." Alison challenged.

"Fine." Jake shrugged, then took out his earbuds and gave them to Alison, who put them in her own ears. The muscular redhead then looked at the display, his thumb hovering over the triangular 'play' symbol. "You want me to start it over?"

"If you want." She answered. Jake nodded, and started the song over again. Alison smiled as she heard the long organ note by Jon Lord. She started bobbing her head and smiling as Ian Paice's drums and Ritchie Blackmore's guitar kicked in. "Can you remember? Remember my name..." She sang softly alongside Ian Gillan. Jake raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"You like Deep Purple." Jake muttered in amazement.

"Heck yeah!" Alison grinned. "I love that stuff."

"How'd _you_ get into it?" Jake blinked.

"How'd you?" Alison asked.

"My dad."

"Same here." Alison said. "When my dad would work, he'd put on some tunes to listen to. Helped him relax. He's listen to Purple, ELO, Styx, Satriani...He has a big ol' collection of vinyl records." She smiled fondly. "He let me listen to them as well."

"My dad was away a lot." Jake explained. "He's a pro wrestler. He travels a lot as a result."

"That sounds awesome. Well, except for not being at home much."

"It is. And Dad always kept in contact with us. Technology is a wonderful thing." Jake sighed. "I want to do it myself." He shook his head. "But thanks to the Joes, I can kiss that dream goodbye. It's all I ever wanted to do."

"Well, we don't all get to achieve our dreams." Alison told him. "Sometimes, you just have to find something new to shoot for."

"But it's all I ever really was good at. Yeah, I'm good in school and all, but my heart belongs to the squared circle. I can imagine you feel the same way when you're on stage."

"...you got a point there." Alison confessed. "I admit, I was pretty devastated when my dad wouldn't let me sing on stage. I get that he's bitter about Mom and all, but still."

"He's probably just worried about you."

"Like those Joes worry about _you?_ " Alison noted. Jake rolled his eyes.

"They say they do." He muttered. The blonde singer frowned as she thought about another track to take this conversation on. And she did after a moment.

"Hey, Dragon Boy. Can I ask you something?"

"If you agree to never call me that again."

"Well..." She fidgeted nervously, her cheeks starting to redden. "You know that blond guy with the funny hands?"

"Longshot? What about him?"

"Well...he's kind of an odd duck, huh?"

Jake shrugged. "Coming from another dimension will make you seem odd to the natives."

"Fair enough." Alison said. "I know you don't seem like someone who takes time out to get to know his teammates, but I heard you and him were...kind of friends?"

"For some reason, people seem to think that about me and him."

"Well...what can you tell me about him?"

"He's a goofy pretty boy stuntman who mooned over you like a lovestruck puppy." Jake explained. Alison blushed.

"...really?"

 _Oh God..._ Jake rolled his eyes. "Pretty much." The blonde lightengale noticed Jake's reaction.

"Not much of a fan of romance, are you?"

"...not really." Jake admitted. "It's distracting."

"I think it's nice."

"Not when you're on a mission." Jake frowned.

"So, I can assume that you don't have a girl you're eyeing yourself. That is, if you're into girls."

"There..." Jake's lips twisted as he tried to find the words. "...was this girl. Her name was Tessa."

"Oh."

"It was more of a crush." Jake admitted. "A silly thing for schoolboys."

"I see."

"I should've known it wouldn't go anywhere. She was twenty-three, after all." Jake grumbled. Alison chuckled.

"Well, maybe it's for the best."

"Mm." Jake agreed. "It was childish. I don't know what I was thinking."

Alison smirked. "You're a guy who's driven by hormones like many other men." Jake shot her a flat look.

"You are a very helpful person."

"I try." Alison joked with a big grin on her face. "You strike me as the stubborn sort."

"Really."

"Yup." The blonde nodded.

"You should meet my little brother." Jake told her. "He's a mule if it was human."

"I think that Whithalf guy hurt your pride." Alison deduced. Jake scowled.

"My pride."

"Yup." The singer nodded. "That's why you're so angry at him. The others tell me you wanted to protect your family with your powers."

"I'm no fan of the superhero stuff, but when I was told of the Hellfire Club and the Gathering, I knew I had to do _something_ about it. Kyle and I...we had to protect our family."

"So...what happened next?"

"We agreed to go undercover in the Massachusetts Academy." Jake explained. Alison blinked.

 _Wait, the Massachusetts Academy?_ A memory came up on the blonde mutant girl's mind. _My dad_ _got a letter from them saying I won a scholarship there. Was it because I was a mutant? And if it was...how did they know?_ "I heard of them, I thought they were just some fancy private school."

"Trust me, it's not worth going there." Jake warned. "The headmistress ain't remotely what she seems. And neither are the student body." Bile rose in the redheaded Bostonian's throat as he thought about the Hellions. "We learned that the Hellfire Club used it to recruit young mutants and make them into soldiers."

 _Yup. It was because I was a mutant._ Alison mentally confirmed. "So...what did General Whithalf do to anger you?"

"While there, we met Tessa. She was also a spy, but she was doing it for the X-Men. So, we decided to pool our resources, make the job a little easier, and get more info to the Joes, as she was working with the Inner Circle. They were on the verge of discovering her spying, so Kyle and I revealed ourselves to save her life."

"That's pretty noble of you." Alison complimented sincerely.

"We thought it was." Jake sighed. "After all, Tessa was our friend. We swore we'd come back to get her." His head dipped. "Whithalf wouldn't let us rescue her."

"If she was spying for the X-Men, then maybe they still needed her there. I was told the Misfits and X-Men worked a lot together, so..." _Man, this whole thing is making my head spin! An evil cabal of mutants, some Organization who was after this 'Kingdom Hearts' thing, this sounds straight out of a video game!_

"Yeah, but the thing was...Whithalf told us he would make us part of the Misfits. But he lied. He puts _here._ On the West Coast team."

"Sounds to me like he intended to, but plans had changed."

"...I may not be a fan of the whole superhero thing, but I did want to protect my family." Jake told Alison. "Whithalf would not let us do that."

"See what I mean?" Alison smirked. "He wounded your pride. You wanted to protect your family, but Whithalf took steps to do the same. You wanted to show Whithalf that you could protect your family, but he made sure you couldn't. I think that's why you hate him so much."

"I could have protected my family." Jake growled. "Whithalf had no faith in me. He didn't trust me."

"From what I've been told, those Hellfire Club guys were some really powerful SOBs." Alison said.

"They were _bullies,_ Alison. That's all they were. Nothing more than overstuffed bullies."

"Overstuffed bullies with a lot of power and way above your weight class, kiddo." Lady Jaye said as she walked up. "Sorry to interrupt, I was just on my way to talk with Shooting Star and I couldn't help but overhear."

"Hmph. I bet that went well." Jake snorted, crossing his arms.

"Ah, it's alright." Alison smiled at Jake. "Just seeing Dragon Boy here stewing in his wounded macho pride."

"Heh heh, yeah. Our Red Dragon does tend to overestimate himself." Lady Jaye chuckled, playfully mussing with Jake's fiery red hair. The powerhouse mutant scowled.

"I have faith in myself. Because _you_ nor anyone else in the Joes ever did." Jake grumbled.

Lady Jaye shook her head. "I'll never understand why you're so mad at General Whithalf, considering he saved your parents."

"Guy clearly has a macho streak." Alison cracked. "He's got a bit too much macho pride, even though he won't admit it."

"No shame in getting help, Jake." Lady Jaye chuckled. "Especially when it comes to facing the Hellfire Club."

"Me and Kyle could have protected my parents from them." Jake glared at Lady Jaye. "But we will never know _now,_ will we?!"

Alison's jaw dropped in shock. "...you're really willing to risk your family's lives just to face the Hellfire Club by yourself?! You're crazy!"

"She's right, Jake. I can't believe you'd be so heartless to do that." Lady Jaye frowned.

"I can't believe you think I'd put my own parents' lives on the line like that!" Jake snapped.

"You would have been if General Whithalf didn't bring you and your brother on the team." Lady Jaye reminded.

"Yeah, Red." Alison agreed. "It seems like they just wanted to watch your back. I get it wounds your precious pride, but which is worse? Wounded pride, or a dead family?"

"...I just wanted to protect my family."

"So, why are you so angry about us trying to help with that?" Lady Jaye asked.

"Yeah, Dragon Boy." Alison crossed her arms. "Why does the Joes helping you out get you all fired up?" Jake glared at her, but the blonde didn't budge an inch.

"Because of _how my powers work_ , dammit." Jake growled. "You want to know something interesting about me, Dazzler? I'm the most _powerful_ member of the West Coast Misfits. Hell, I'm arguably the most powerful member of _any_ Misfit team. You wanna know why?"

"Uh, okay?"

Jake grinned. "Because I can transform into an anthropomorphic dragon." Alison's eyes widened, and she turned to Lady Jaye.

"Really?!"

"Yeah." Lady Jaye confirmed with a nod. "It's...quite a sight." She pointed at Jake and smiled in amusement. "You should have seen the look on a certain fat lawyer's face when he saw this guy go dragon."

"In my Dragon Mode, as I like to call it, I'm basically a red scaly winged Hulk." Jake explained. "Yeah, I'm more aggressive and short-tempered than normal, but I still am myself. I can even speak. But in that form...I'm a flying fire-spewing tank. Death from Above. Bullets make me laugh. I can tear apart an M-1 Abrams like it was made of _tissue paper._ I can then lift up the remains like it weighs nothing, and pitch the pieces thirty miles. I am practically _invincible_ in Dragon Mode." Jake explained.

 _Holy COW._ Alison blinked in amazement.

"Thing is, Jake can hold the Dragon Mode for only a few minutes at a time, due to its power." Lady Jaye explained. "It drains Jake when he uses it, and he needs time to recover."

"The price of all that power. I have no idea how Banner does it." Jake shook his head. "But that is not the point. The point is, I had the power to protect my family from the Hellfire Club. _That_ is why I did not want the Joes' help."

"Just because you're powerful doesn't mean you're completely invincible." Lady Jaye warned sagely.

"No, but I am pretty damn close." Jake said. "Anything the Hellfire Club could throw at me, I can shrug off."

"Yeah, but your parents don't share it. Neither does Kyle." Lady Jaye reminded. "It's not worth putting their lives on the line just because you believe you can beat the Hellfire Club." Jake drooped his head in thought. Elsewhere, Shooting Star was standing at the stage, looking out at the seats the concertgoers would be sitting in for the Dazzler's big show. Out of the corner, she saw Chief Navarro walk up to her and check out the view himself.

"You know, when I was a kid, I wanted to be a rock star." He smiled wistfully. "When I was a kid, I used to play guitar and drums. Even did it for my high school marching band. Good times...in some ways."

She looked over at the cop. "I wanted to be Annie Oakley."

"Your shooting skills would do her proud." Navarro chuckled. He then looked over the stage. "Yeah, this town needs this show for a while. Considering the insanity the people of Dallas went through, we need this show to relax and let off some steam."

"Mm." Shooting Star mumbled. "Navarro, I don't like this."

"Don't like what?"

"I don't like the idea of depending on those Joes or their brats to help us out here. They showed their true colors at the Gathering. This city got turned into a gigantic war zone, and they couldn't even be so much as bothered to help us out. How many lives could they have saved? How many people here are dead because they chose to goof off during the Talisman Riots? And...and Texas Tornado...what about him?"

"Star, we talked about this. You obsess over this, you _will_ go crazy."

"I know, but I can't help it." Star sighed. "I can't stand this." She shook her head.

"Am I interrupting something?" The two turned and saw Lady Jaye walking up, holding a couple cups of coffee. "I'm sorry if I..."

"It's alright." Navarro smiled.

"Here." Lady Jaye handed a cup to the chief. "Flint wanted me to give you that."

"Thanks." Navarro took a sip of the coffee. "I needed that."

"Flint wants to discuss something with you." The javelin-throwing Joe told him. Navarro nodded and went off. Lady Jaye looked at Shooting Star,who was still staring at the seats. She walked over to the superheroine. "We saw the city. Been through a lot, huh?"

"You could say that." Shooting Star answered, not looking at Lady Jaye. "The city turned into a warzone. Monsters everywhere. Lots of death and destruction. Never saw anything like that before."

"...you mentioned a Texas Tornado. He was another hero here?"

"He was more than that. He was my fiancee."

"I'm sorry. He died?"

Shooting Star's jaw tightened. "...in a way. He got badly injured when some rubble fell on him. He's comatose. Been that way since the Gathering a month or so ago."

"I'm sorry." Lady Jaye laid a sympathetic hand on the Texan heroine's shoulder, but the blonde heroine angrily brushed it off. She shot the heroine a hard glare.

"Apologies ain't gonna wake Drew up." Shooting Star scowled. "Compared to what a lot of people lost here, I'm very lucky."

"Yeah, I heard about the death toll." Lady Jaye shook her head. "What a waste."

"I find it hilarious you care all of a sudden." Shooting Star sneered. "Where was that caring when Drew and were bleeding and fighting all over Dallas trying to keep those Heartless monsters from tearing this city to shreds?! Why is it I and all the other Locals had to pay the price for your stinkin' war with the Organization XIII?! Why did we have to bleed and suffer and die?! Why couldn't _you_ pay for this war with _your_ _own damned blood and lives?!_ " She shook her head. "How come you and your brats get to make it through without a scratch, and Drew has to lie in a hospital bed?!"

"Shooting Star, I can't imagine what you are going through. I really can't." Lady Jaye told her. "And I really am sorry. We all are."

"You could have _helped_ us."

"But we were unable to." Lady Jaye explained. "We couldn't be in two places at once. We had to fight in Kentucky and Los Angeles. It was the only way to end the threat of Organization XIII in the quickest way possible. I know it may not give you any comfort, but that's the truth. We wanted to end this as quick as possible so that we could save as many lives as possible. You might have died too if we did not do what we did. More may have died had we not done what we did."

"...but we got left behind." Shooting Star reminded. "You got your precious victory, but it came a price. A price _we Locals_ had to pay."

"I know it seems that way, but believe me, if we were able to help, we would have."

"Well, ya didn't. Hope y'all can live with it." Shooting Star walked away. "You didn't have to see the things I saw."

 **Elsewhere in the Stadium**

Chief Navarro found Flint at the skybox, looking out at the arena.

"Nice, huh?" The policeman chuckled. "I mean, look at this." He gestured at the grand skybox. "Look at this place! I could practically live here. There's even a private bathroom here!" The Hispanic officer sighed. "But with my salary, it's practically a pipe dream."

"Welcome to the club, my friend." Flint chuckled.

"That Joe woman. Lady Jaye, right?" Navarro said. Flint nodded. "She said I wanted to talk to you."

"Yeah." Flint nodded. "I had been doing some thinking after that little 'talk' I had with Shooting Star."

"Yeah, don't mind her. She's bitter. We've all been through a lot." He looked out at the arena. "I don't blame her, really. I have a wife and two kids. God, if anything happened to them..."

"...maybe we didn't do enough." Flint said. "Maybe Shooting Star had a point. We didn't help her here in Dallas. And I saw some of the city, how bad it was..."

"I think you guys did what you could." Navarro said. "I heard some of Jaye's convo with Star. Someone had to stop that Gathering thing at its source. You can't be everywhere at once."

"True, but...look what happened to this city." Flint sighed. "I can imagine a lot of people died."

"A lot more would have if you guys didn't stop the Organization in LA." Navarro reminded. "Yes, a lot of people died. But a lot more were saved. And yeah, Dallas was hit hard...but it can be rebuilt. It'll take time and a lot of hard work, but his old city will be back, and better than ever."

"You have a lot of faith in this old burg."

Navarro smiled. "This city has been good to me. I've been born here, I've grown up here, and hopefully I'll retire here. I believe in this old city." Flint couldn't help but smile at the police chief. He had to admit, that kind of optimism was actually kind of refreshing. It was also surprising, considering Shooting Star's bitterness. But then again, the Starr Brothers showed that people who are very much opposites can get along.

"Heh. I haven't seen that kid of optimism in a while." Flint admitted.

"Well, I'm glad I helped cheer you up a little bit." Navarro smiled. "I feel so bad for Shooting Star, though."

"Really?"

"Yeah." Navarro nodded. "She's angry because she's worried about Drew."

"Drew?"

"Yeah. Drew Daniels." Nacvarro explained. "As in, the Texas Twister. He and Shooting Star were an item. In fact, he proposed to marry her last month."

Flint's jaw dropped. "Oh my God."

"Exactly." Navarro nodded sadly. "And then this Gathering thing happens. Some rubble fell on him, and he suffered severe internal injuries. He's now in a coma, and now it's unknown if he'll ever wake up. And if he does...if he'll ever be the same."

"No wonder Shooting Star hates us." Flint sighed. "She needed someone to blame for what happened to the Texas Tornado."

"It's not hard to see why." Navarro said. "From her point of view, you guys could have helped her and Drew out. We didn't see you all fighting at the Gathering, so as far as she knew, you guys just used it as an excuse to not help."

"I would ask what would convince her that we wouldn't have helped her if we could, but...I know that grief doesn't always make you rational. I should know." **(1)**

"You lost someone you loved?" Navarro deduced.

"Sort of." Flint explained. "But yeah, I could've handled that thing with Shooting Star a lot better. I should've seen it. I was...pretty irrational when I was grieving, too. I do hope Daniels gets better. He seemed like a good man."

"He was." Navarro smiled. "He used to the work as a cattle hand before he got his powers. He had some hilarious stories about that time."

"Sounds fun. Let me know when he wakes up. I want to hear some of them."

"He tells a great tale about an angry bull and some women's undergarments. Trust me, it's funnier when you hear it from him."

 **Outside the Stadium**

On a nearby rooftop, one of the Watchdogs was observing the stadium. He was using a pair of futuristic binoculars. Unlike the usual purple and orange uniforms of the Watchdogs, this member of the group was in civilian clothing, his identity hidden by the light work gloves, jacket lapels, and the red baseball cap.

 _I have to remember to thank Pack Leader for the binoculars. These things are incredible!_ The Watchdog thought as he used the features of the powerful device to scan the stadium. _I can't help but wonder where Pack Leader **got** this stuff, though? I do get we need a power-up in this age of superfreaks, but still...did Pack Leader commission this stuff? _The Watchdog shrugged. _Eh, what do I care right now? As long as we get that genejoke singer..._ A walkie-talkie on his belt vibrated, making a slight humming noise. "Hound 26 here, over."

"...you got your eyes on the freak?" Pack Leader inquired.

"Which one, over? There's a ton of them in that arena, over."

"The one that sings. I'd say the blonde, but those West Coast Misfits have a bunch of blondes. It's like whoever put that team together has a fetish or something."

"Well technically only two of them are blondes, over."

"Never mind, you got your eyes on the freak?"

"Yeah, I got her, over. She's talking to this big redhead, over." He zoomed in on Jake and Alison. "Geez, how _big_ is this kid, over? Is he even a kid, over?"

"The redhead? You mean Red Dragon? You see his _father?_ Man's built like a linebacker."

"Oh yeah, over. Must run in the family, over."

"Are all the genejokes together?"

"The ones that aren't in Australia, over."

"...Hound 26? What're you doing?"

"Answering your question, over."

"...why are you saying 'over' at the end of every sentence?"

The Watchdog blinked in confusion. "Because you're supposed to, over. It indicates the end of the sentence, over."

"...I'm not a moron, I can figure out you're not blabbering in one long never-ending run-on sentence that never ends." Pack Leader grumbled, his voice showing slight irritation. "Just keep an eye on the freaks. When that mutie starts her show, we'll take her out in public and set an example. Show them that they are not safe. And nothing can save them."

 _ **Well, well, well! Looks like we got some more drama before the big show! What insanity will happen next? Will Jake let go of his pride? Will Shooting Star forgive the West Coast Misfits? Can the heroes protect the Dazzler and stop the Watchdogs? Will I stop asking stupid questions? Find out in the next chapter!**_

 **(1) – In Chapter 13 of RogueFanKC's "Kingdom Hearts: Mutants of Twilight"**


	5. Showtime!

**Dazzled in Dallas!**

 **Disclaimer: "Finally, some good news!" - The Founder, _Star Trek: Deep Space Nine_**

 **Author's Note: Apologies for the long update time, folks. I tend to procrastinate a lot and I get distracted easily.**

Chapter 5: Showtime!

 **Outside the American Airlines Arena**

Two of the Watchdogs, Dawson and Wilder, were standing next to a white truck in a nearby street, staring at the Arena.

"Just think, Wilder." Dawson noted. "In there, right now, the freak is getting ready to sing. At least, her version of it."

"Yup." Wilder agreed. "Hey, Dawson."

"What?"

"I was looking around at the city, and I had been thinking."

Dawson blinked. "About what?"

"Well...look at it." Wilder gestured with his hand. Dawson stared at the buildings. Many of them were covered in scaffolding. "I don't think this city has ever needed so much repairs."

"Yeah." Dawson frowned as he stared at the buildings. "If it weren't for those monster things, this place wouldn't be in the rough shape its in."

"Yeah, but they weren't muties. And didn't some of them fight against them in the Gathering?"

"I look at it like this." Dawson said. "They may have saved the world so they can destroy it themselves. You know, they feel like they're the only ones that should do it or something like that."

"Maybe..." Wilder shrugged. "But I was thinking about the...special toys we got we got to take down that Dazzler and her freak friends."

"Yeah! Cool, huh?" Dawson grinned.

"Yeah, but..." Wilder rubbed the back of his head. "That stuff? It's some heavy-duty stuff. Where'd Pack Leader even _get it?_ "

"Does it really matter, man?" Dawson scowled. "All I know is that we're going to send that blonde freak on a one-way trip back to the Hell she spawned from. And those Joe freaks will get theirs, too."

"Yeah, but look around you. Look at the city." Wilder pointed out. "There's already a lot of rebuilding going on. What if we end up bringing down the stadium?"

"Can't make an omelet without breakin' eggs, man." Dawson shrugged. "That's life."

"Yeah, but there will be a lot of people there." Wilder reminded. "I'm all for getting the freak girl, but we're supposed to be _protecting_ humanity from her, not blowing them up."

"Hey, I hear you, man." Dawson said. "But here's the thing. They chose to attend that freak's concert. They _chose_ to support her. They _chose_ to let themselves be blinded by her pretty lights." Dawson shook his head. "People like them are brainwashed. The freak girl's got her talons in them. If we gotta take them out to save our kind, then they gotta go. I don't like it anymore than you do, pal. But we gotta do what we gotta do. Can't take any chances. Not with the freaks...or with their supporters." 

**The American Airlines Arena, Dallas, Texas**

It was almost time for the In a dressing room, one Alison Blaire was sitting in front of the mirror, putting on some makeup. She had painted some blue shapes around her eyes. She wore a white sleeveless jumpsuit, and around her neck were a couple of golden chains, one having a pendant of a disco ball. Her grandmother Bella was sitting on a nearby couch, looking at a magazine. The blonde girl sighed.

"You alright, sweetheart?" Bella asked in concern.

"I'm...I'm a little nervous, Grandma." Alison admitted. "Well, not nervous. I'm terrified."

"Those Watchdog bastards?" Bella scowled. The blonde girl nodded.

"Maybe we should cancel the show." Alison suggested. "Those Watchdogs are monsters, and I'm afraid that someone will get hurt because of them."

"Honey, that's what the Watchdogs want." Bella told her granddaughter. "This city went through some rough times because of that Gathering thing, and they need someone to help them brighten their night up, even if it is only for a short time."

"But we're putting people at risk." Alison said.

"Alison, honey, the world is a risky place. We take risks going out and driving down the road." Bella said. "We can't hide from that. The Watchdogs want you to be scared of them. They want you to live in fear. You can't give those backwards-thinking pathetic piles of slime mold what they want."

"But...they're monsters."

"They may be..." Bella smiled and gave Alison a hug. "But we have some great monster slayers to protect us..." Meanwhile, in the rafters of the arena's roof, Jake Wildfire and Longshot were sitting. The artificial lifeform was having a soda. Jake was looking down at the people filing in, his eyes covered by a pair of futuristic binoculars.

"This soda is very good." Longshot licked his lips in delight. He smiled at Jake. "Would you like some?" He held out his cup.

"No, I'm good." Jake lightly pushed it away. He glanced at the drink. "You had better keep an eye and a good grip on that. Don't want it falling to the ground and making a big mess."

"Of course." Longshot nodded. He looked down at the stands. "A lot of people want to see Alison."

"Yeah, she's pretty popular." Jake explained. "Lots of people love her music, so a lot of people would love to see her sing live."

"Bart let me listen to some of her music." Longshot smiled. "She sounds like an angel."

"I wouldn't know, man. I don't listen to her music." Jake said.

"You should. It's really good."

"I'd rather not. Unlike you, I'm actually keeping an eye on the crowd, like I'm supposed to." Jake reminded the blond 'mutant'. The redheaded mutant started to grumble under his breath. "Would be nice if we had some idea what the hell those Watchdogs actually _looked_ like underneath those helmets. Would make it a lot easier to pick them out from the crowd."

"You really think they would infiltrate the crowd?"

"If that's what it takes for them to get at Dazzler." Jake said. "Keep in mind, these people _really_ want her dead."

"I do not understand it. She's a wonderful singer, she is beautiful, she is a fantastic person. Why would they want her dead?"

"She's a mutant, Longshot. For some people, that's justification enough."

"She's different, so she must be destroyed."

"Got it in one." Jake said. The two sat in silence for a short time.

"...Jake?"

"Yeah?"

"...you talked to Alison earlier, correct?"

"Yeah."

"Did...did she mention me?"

"...yeah." Jake answered.

"Oh." Longshot blushed. "Well..."

"Longshot, we're on a mission right now." Jake reminded. "Can't this wait?"

"I don't think it can. Once this mission is over, we'll have to leave." Longshot answered. Jake groaned.

"What is it?"

"I know this kind of thing bothers you and all..."

"Great, I'm glad you understand that." Jake groaned.

"Did she mention me?"

"She did, yes. Can we _please_ concentrate on the damn job now?!" Jake groaned.

"...what did she want to know?"

"Can't you ask her yourself?!" Jake snapped.

"She's getting ready for the show!"

Jake growled and activated his Joe-Com. "Red Dragon here! Can I _please_ switch with someone?!"

A sigh from the other end. It was Flint. "What's wrong, Jake?"

"Longshot won't focus! He's yapping about Dazzler, and he's driving me crazy!"

"Why won't you tell me what she said?!"

"NOW IS NOT THE TIME FOR IT!" Jake roared.

"Red Dragon, calm down." Flint ordered.

"He's letting his stupid crush mess with his head!"

"Red Dragon, _calm down._ Let me talk to him." Flint said.

"Longshot, pull him up on your Joe-Com." Jake told the artificial lifeform, pinching the bridge of his nose. Longshot pulled Flint up on his Joe-Com.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Longshot." Flint said. Jake pinched the bridge of his nose and rubbed it in frustration.

"I'm sorry, but..."

"Kid, I get it." Flint said to the artificial mutant. "I know you really like this girl, but this isn't the time."

"I am sorry..." Longshot apologized, head bowed in shame.

"You certainly are." Jake mumbled.

"Jake, I heard that. And be nice." Flint ordered. _God, that kid is turning into his brother..._ "Hey, Longshot. Look at it like this. I'm sure Alison would really appreciate it if you did your very best in watching out for anyone who could harm her." Longshot perked up.

"Really? You think so?"

 _Oh, God..._ Jake crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. _You have **got** to be kidding me._

"I know so, son." Flint said with a smile. "If you do a good job, and Alison makes it through safe, I'll ask her if she can give you a way to talk to her regularly."

"You will?!" Longshot asked excitedly.

"Yes." Flint nodded. "Can I count on you to do a good job?"

"Sir, yes, sir!" Longshot saluted. "No harm to the Dazzler will come on my watch."

"Good man, Longshot. I'm counting on you." Flint ended the transmission. Jake scowled.

"...seriously?" He muttered. Longshot just picked up his binoculars and started looking at the crowd. "Seriously." Jake shook his head and sighed. God, this mission was a ton of fun for the Red Dragon so far... "We should stay on the job, Jake. Alison is counting on us." The Bostonian redhead sneered and took his own binoculars. "I hate you. I hate you so much." Jake grumbled quietly as he got to work himself.

 **Elsewhere in the arena**

Ace Starr had found the catering area was being used to feed the crew and Alison's band. The feral mutant had decided to help himself to some of the food there.

"Hmmm..." The Los Angelan leonine mutant smiled and rubbed his chin. "There's still some good food here." He grinned widely as he saw some sandwiches. "Hey, peanut butter! Sweet!" He took a couple sandwiches and started chowing down. He then picked up a familiar scent. He turned around and saw Jinx walking towards him. "Hey, Pinky! You're just in time! Try one of these sandwiches!"

"It's just peanut butter, Wildstar." Jinx chuckled as she took one. "So, missing your cousins?"

"They're hopefully having some fun in Australia." Ace said. "The Superstars lost a lot of their popularity in the US after they got exposed as mutants. However, they still are a hit in other places, so there's that. Besides, they'll come back when they finish the Aussie leg of their tour."

"Yeah." Jinx nodded. "I hope they bring back lots of nice pictures. I've never been to Australia before."

"Neither have I." Ace said. "But I wouldn't mind seeing some kangaroos."

"Me neither." Jinx agreed. "But I do want to talk to you."

"About what?" Ace blinked.

"I saw how you acted around Dazzler."

"Come on, Pinky." Ace rolled his eyes. "I am always a gentleman."

"Lucky for you." Jinx frowned, crossing her arms.

Wildstar frowned. "Is something eating you?"

"...No."

"Then what's bothering you? I didn't _really_ flirt with her, I was just being a gentleman."

"Sure you were." Jinx muttered.

"Are you jealous, Pinky?" Ace teased with a grin.

"No."

"Then why're you so bothered by my being nice to Alison."

"It...just..." Jinx struggled to get the words out. "Oooh! You are something else, Wildstar!" She threw her hands up in the air and stomped away, leaving a confused Ace standing there blinking.

"What was _that_ all about?" Ace muttered to himself. However, his nose picked up Jinx's lingering scent, and he noticed something. _Are those..._ _ **pheromones?**_ Ace's eyes widened. _Huh. That explais her weirdness lately. Is she crushing on me? Well, that's not weird. The girls always turned heads at the sight of me._ A frown. _Well, I'll have to talk to Jinx in private about this._

 **A few hours later**

The concert started off very well. Alison sang her way through her set list. It was a mix of various songs: original hits, and a few covers. The heroes were stationed all over the backstage area and disguised in the crowd, keeping an eye out for any trouble. Alison started to sing one song, a cover of the B.J. Thomas song "Always On My Mind". Upon hearing it, Shooting Star reached under her mask to wipe a tear from her eye.

Lady Jaye noticed this.

"You alright, Star?"

"Yeah." The heroine nodded. "That song was playing the first time Drew and I went out dancing together. Well, the Willie Nelson version. It...brings back some memories." Lady Jaye nodded in understanding.

"I understand."

"I'm sure you do." The Texan blonde remarked.

"I _am_ sorry about Drew." Lady Jaye said.

"I'm sure you are." Shooting Star said, checking her guns. The concert seemed to be going well. One of the West Coast Misfits, one Theresa "Siryn" Rourke, was among the crowd. She had to admit, she was having a ton of fun at the show. With her was Bart "Impulse" Allen. The two mutants were dressed in civilian clothing.

"This so so much fun!" Bart whooped. "Seeing the Dazzler live is the best thing ever!"

"Aye. Don't forget, we have to keep an eye out for any danger." Theresa reminded. She found herself feeling a bit of discomfort. Thanks to her powers, her ears were much more resistant to the damaging effects of loud noise than a normal human's, but she also somehow had more sensitive hearing. And it was picking up some noise from above the stadium. "...Huh?" Bart noticed Theresa looking up at the stadium."

"Yo Terry, you okay?!"

"I hear what sounds like...jet engines? This close to the stadium?" Her eyes widened. "Oh, no!"

 _ **KA-BOOM!**_

An explosion could be heard in the sky. Alison and the crowd gasped in shock as metal hands cut holes in the roof and started peeling it away.

"Gotta go, Longshot!" Jake grabbed the artificial lifeform and flew off.

"EVERYONE OUT!" Alison screamed into the microphone. "EVERYONE OUT NOW!"

"Aw, hell! Those damned Watchdog polecats are here!" Shooting Star yelled as she and Lady Jaye ran on stage. As the concertgoers evacuated with the aid of Dallas's Finest, the things that made the holes flew in.

 _ **Boom! Boom! Boom!**_

A group of futuristic orange-and-purple mecha/power armor-esque suits flew down, landing on the ground. The suits had futuristic cannons mounted on the shoulders, and the arms also had Gatling guns mounted on them.

 _What are those things, some kind of power suits?_ Theresa blinked. _They remind me of those mech suits that Bart saw in that old cartoon. What was it called? Exo-something..._

"Watchdogs!" Bart gasped in horror. Alison scowled.

"Alright, Bart! Time ta change inta somethin' more appropriate!" Theresa said, showing the futuristic green, yellow, and black watch around her wrist. Bart nodded and showed his own watch, which was red and white. The two young mutants turned a dial on the watches' faces, then pressed in the displays. In flashes of light, they were in their West Coast Misfit uniforms. The Watchdogs' pack leader spoke from within the lead suit, which was decorated with a silver dog's head painted on the chest.

" _ **Dazzler!**_ " Pack Leader yelled. " _ **We are the Watchdogs. We will not stand by and yet you pollute the minds of young humans with your filth. We will not stand for you pretending to be a human being. We well PURGE this country of your poison!**_ " The other West Coast Misfits gathered at the stage.

"Looks like we got some tin cans to open up." Ace grinned widely, his blue energy claws erupting from his fingertips. "Let's party, ya ugly mutts!"

 _ **Well, well, well! Looks like the big battle is about to begin! Who will emerge triumphant? Will Longshot get a date with the Dazzler? Will Red Dragon throttle Longshot? And will Shooting Star find a way to forgive the heroes? Find out in the next chapter!**_


	6. Put Down the Watchdogs!

**Dazzled in Dallas!**

 **Disclaimer: "You will return to us one day. No one ever leaves the KGB." - General Gogol, _A View to a Kill._**

Chapter 6: Put Down the Watchdogs!

 **Sydney, Australia**

The Superstars, like many a major rock group, had a tour bus they traveled around in. However, this was no ordinary tour bus. Which was appropriate as the Superstars were no ordinary rock band. One of the members was especially unique.

Being a former space pirate, Lila Cheney was not only a mutant with the power to teleport across interstellar distances, she was a skilled thief, fighter, mechanic, pilot, and expert on technology. Her travels through the stars had granted her access to special technology. Technology that she used to modify the bus so it was much bigger on the inside, much like the TARDIS of _Doctor Who_ fame.

Among the many rooms in the bus is a lab. This was Lila's domain. And here she was at work, doing one of her favorite hobbies: tinkering. She was putting some components in a new device she was making.

The device appeared to be a futuristic crossbow melded with a laser rifle. The stock of the crossbow was black, and the limbs were gold. The British mutant smiled at her work.

"There we go..." Lila grinned in pride. "The maintenance on m' laser crossbow is complete." She hefted the weapon, finding it light and easy to carry. She had started building the weapon shortly before the Gathering. Sadly, due to the events of that misadventure, it was only until after those events she was able to actually complete her new weapon. She turned the weapon around and carefully examined it, her proud grin never fading. "Ah, yeah. Hawkeye, Green Arrow, Speedy, you three bowheads can eat yer hearts out!" She smiled and placed the crossbow on the table.

 _ **Knock knock!**_

The knocking noise woke the British mutant out of her reverie. "Huh? Oh, come in!" The door of the lab opened, revealing Jenni Starr.

"Hey there!" Jenni greeted with a smile and friendly wave. "May I come in?"

"Yeah, sure." Lila nodded. "Sorry, I've just been working on this."

"Oh, yeah. That little project of yours." Jenni nodded. "Finally done?"

"Yup!" Lila grinned widely, holding up her new laser crossbow. "Nice, ain't it?"

"Very." Jenni nodded. "Your new weapon?"

"Yup." Lila answered. "I wanted to finish building this thing earlier, but that bloody Gathering ruined everything." She sighed. "A shame, really. It would have been the perfect time to test this baby out."

"From what you told me about your plans for that, it would have been helpful against the Hellfire Heartless, considering that we didn't really get any useful weapons against them, unlike our East Coast counterparts."

Lila snorted. "Kyle threw one hell of a strop over that sword."

"Well, we felt it would be better in Jake's hands." Jenni smiled. "Kyle didn't quite have the...emotional maturity to handle the responsibility that came with wielding it."

"He _still_ doesn't, if you ask me." Lila snorted. "...how is he doing, by the way?" The blonde girl's face full, and she looked down at the ground.

"...I think the Gathering broke him." Jen said. "He...he never smiles anymore. He doesn't laugh at jokes. He doesn't participate in anything. He won't talk about it. The only emotion I ever see him display is rage."

"Tell me about it." Lila grumbled. "I saw a thing on TV about Toad and Wavedancer's upcoming wedding...he utterly _lost_ it." The dark-haired Brit shook her head. "He wrecked the TV, screaming and ranting about Toad."

"Yeah, Kyle _never_ took Todd getting an electricity-themed Keyblade well." Jenni recalled. "But he doesn't have the thing anymore. So, why's he still furious about it?"

"Jealousy like that doesn't not magically go away." Lila told the blonde sagely. "It can fester and eat you up. Todd may not _have_ his Keyblade anymore, but it doesn't change the fact that he got to have one...and Kyle did not."

"So you're saying Kyle shouldn't be invited to the wedding?" Jenni tried to joke.

"I doubt he'd want to come anyway." Lila shook her head.

"Well, I don't know what to do there." Jenni sighed. "I am really worried about Kyle. I wish there was something I could do to help him."

The interstellar teleporter shook her head. "Can't help someone who has no desire to be helped, Jen." Lila pointed out. "Those Wildfire boys are two of the most stubborn, hardheaded people I have ever met. Problem is, they let it get in the way of actually thinking straight." She rolled her eyes. "It's not that they _don't_ get that the Joes were trying to protect them, it's that they _refuse_ to see that the Joes were trying to protect them."

"I think it's a pride thing." Jenni said. "The Joes unintentionally wounded their pride. I know Jake and Kyle wanted to protect their family from the Hellfire Club..." She shook her head. She would worry about that later. "Tell me about the crossbow of yours."

"Well..." A proud grin spread on Lila's face. "It's designed to fire bolts of energy on its own, but it can also fire custom crossbow bolts that I'm working on."

"Like the trick arrows Green Arrow and Hawkeye use?"

"Pretty much, but designed for a crossbow." Lila nodded. "They both use arrows with various gimmicks, so I thought I'd use them as well."

"Funny enough, I heard they got into a bit of a brawl last week." Jenni giggled.

Lila rolled her eyes. "I'm not surprised. From what I heard, those two _always_ had some sort of rivalry going on."

"Well, that's not surprising." Jenni shrugged.

 **Parkland Memorial Hospital, Dallas, Texas**

A redheaded mustachioed man laid in the hospital bed, his eyes closed and his face seemingly serene and peaceful. His body was hooked up to various devices to keep him alive.

Drew Daniels was at one time a former ranch hand, and a hero. He was known as the Texas Twister. After being exposed to radiation during his being caught in a tornado, he gained the power to manipulate wind, mainly in the form of tornadoes. Using these powers, he became one of Texas's preeminent superheroes. He operated solo, and also as part of a group of Southwestern United States-based superheroes known as the Rangers. In his civilian life, he ran a rodeo show.

During the Gathering of Twilight, as many of the major heroes were prioritizing the glory of fighting at the Gathering itself, Daniels was one of the many local-level superheroes forced to keep a massive invasion of Heartless invading the world at bay. He had also had to deal with the Talisman Riots ravaging Dallas. During the invasion, Daniels was badly injured by the Heartless and ended up buried under rubble.

These events resulted in the coma he was in now. During his superhero career, Daniels had met Victoria Starwin, aka Shooting Star. She had joined his rodeo show as a performer. The two would work together quite a bit, and become a couple.

But that was in the past. Now, Drew Daniels hovered between life and death. And only time would answer which way he would go. A doctor came by to check on his vitals, a nurse with him.

"Henderson, has Shooting Star been by to visit today?" The doctor asked.

The nurse shook his head. "No, Dr. Trenton." Dr. Trenton sighed. She took off her glasses and wiped them with a cloth she got from the pocket of her coat. She looked at Drew sadly as she put them back on.

"God, how sad." The doctor shook her head. She looked at Henderson. "He saved my life, you know."

"Really?"

"Yeah." Dr. Trenton nodded.

"How so?"

"...We had created a triage area in a high school gym." Dr. Trenton recalled. "A lot of injured people were there. A group of those Heartless monsters had managed to find their way into the school. Blasted in through the wall. They managed to kill a few people, but this wind kicked up. It sucked the Heartless out of the building like they were debris caught in a vacuum cleaner."

"Wow."

"Yeah." Dr. Trenton nodded. "The Twister shot and killed all of the monsters. I saw him leaning on the hole, and he looked in bad shape. His costume was tattered, he was badly hurt."

"My God, what a tough SOB." Henderson whistled.

"I asked him to rest with us for a while, but he refused. Said there were still Heartless everywhere. And he had to stop them. He then flew away in a tornado. That would be the last time I saw him before now."

"Huh." Henderson said. "You know, seeing him here like this...it does make me wonder...where the hell were the Avengers? The Justice League? All the other heroes?"

Dr. Trenton shrugged. "At the Gathering, I guess."

"So, they left Twister and Shooting Star to fight those monsters on their own out here." Henderson shook his head. "My little boy admired Texas Twister. And now...he knows that he's here. He gets so sad. He believes the other heroes didn't help him because they didn't see him as a friend."

"I doubt they didn't care." Dr. Trenton shrugged. "Heck, I don't think they even _know_ about him."

"I wouldn't be surprised." Henderson sneered. "I doubt those so-called 'heroes' care about anyone but themselves."

"...I was in Afghanistan." Dr. Trenton said. "I was in a war. Those heroes were in a war, too. And if there's one thing I learned there, it's that no matter what you do, people _will_ die. People _will_ get hurt. The only thing you can do..." She looked at the nurse. "Is pray that you can minimize it as much as possible." Her gaze turned to the comatose Texas Twister. "A lot more people could have died if the heroes at the Gathering. And Twister here knew the risks. It's easy for people to be angry, but..." She shook her head. "It doesn't mean they were right."

 **The American Airlines Arena**

Havoc had broken out in this arena tonight. On one side stood members of the West Coast Misfits: Siryn, Longshot, Red Dragon, Impulse, Jinx, and Wildstar. They also had two of their Joe caretakers with them: Lady Jaye and Flint. They were further backed up by one of Dallas's local heroes, Shooting Star. On the other side were the Watchdogs, a group that committed terrorist acts in the name of what they considered a more "moral" America. They had armed themselves with power armors, allowing them a fighting change against their superhuman opponents.

What were they fighting over? One Alison Blaire. Inspired by the heroism of the X-Men and Misfits, she decided to reveal the she herself was a mutant. The Watchdogs were none too happy with that, as they believed mutants were evil monsters, and must be destroyed. They saw an opportunity to destroy the Dazzler and send a message at a concert in Dallas.

That's where the West Coast Misfits stepped in.

"Come on, Blaire! Let's go!" Flint grabbed the mutant songstress by the arm.

"Right!" Alison agreed, going with the warrant officer. The singer was no fool.

"I'll come with you!" Longshot said as he went after them, pulling out a couple of daggers, ready to throw just in case. Backstage, the three passed Bella Blaire, who was helping the police evacuate Alison's band and the concertgoers. "Miss Blaire!"

"I hear you!" The woman yelled. "We're out of here!" Pack Leader noticed the soldier, Misfit, and singer flee.

"Get the freak!" Pack Leader ordered.

"Like hell!" Ace Starr roared, his claws erupting with blue energy.

 _Hotheaded lion boy!_ Shooting Star mentally grumbled. Calling upon the power of the lion his mutation reflected, the young mutant codenamed Wildstar ran at one of the armored Watchdogs and slashed at him.

 _ **BZZZOW! BZZOW!**_

"What?!" Ace exclaimed in surprise as his claws hit a forcefield.

"Nice try, freak! These suits are _designed_ to fight rabid animals like you!" The Watchdog in the suit cackled. He then grabbed Wildstar and tossed him overhead.

"Hey wait a minute, I'm not rabidWHOAAAAAAA!" The feral mutant yelped as he was sent flying.

"Wildstar!" Jinx exclaimed in concern.

"Should someone try to catch him?!" Shooting Star asked.

"He'll be fine!" Red Dragon growled. "Crazy SOB always finds a way to land on his feet!" True to the Bostonian mutant's words, the feral mutant's body instinctively twisted in mid-air, and he landed on his feet in the stands. "See what I mean?"

Jinx sighed in relief. _I forgot that he can do that..._

"The hell?! How'd that freak _do_ that?" Dawson's jaw went agape.

"I heard that one has I think, cat powers or something." Wilder recalled. "You ever seen cats when they fall, man? They land on their feet."

"Oh, right. Yeah. That's pretty neat." Dawson nodded in understanding.

"Why don't you two cowardly stooges get out of those suits and face me, mano e mano?" Ace taunted as he raced his way back to the stage. "What's the matter, boys?! You scared of a sweet little kitty cat like me?!"

"We ain't afraid of you, freak!" Dawson yelled angrily, pointing his arm at the feral Los Angelan. "You ain't so tough without those fancy superpowers of yours! None of you are!" His armor's arm sprouted a gatling cannon.

 _ **BRRRRR-RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT!**_

The cannon fired a stream of tracer bullets, forcing Ace to employ his superhuman agility and reflexes to dodge the deadly projectiles.

 _Geez!_ The feral mutant thought as he dodged the bullets. _I don't want to be on the receiving end of those bullets! My healing factor may allow me to handle getting shot, but it'll still hurt like hell. Not to mention I'll need time to recover from it._ "Big talk coming from a dude in power armor!"

Dawson smirked. "How does it feel to be the one on the defensive, huh freak?" He cackled as he continued firing. "It ain't fun on the receiving end, huh?!"

"If that power armor has a forcefield, then we have to assume that they all do!" Lady Jaye said, pulling out one of her javelins.

"Wonderful! Just wonderful!" Shooting Star grumbled, glancing at her guns. _Now I know my sixshooters are going to be useless..._ The cowgirl glared at Lady Jaye.

"You assumed correctly, traitor." Pack Leader confirmed. "These power armors are _designed_ to purge the Earth of your pet freaks!"

"Call them that again, and I'll shove this javelin where the sun don't shine!" Lady Jaye snapped.

"Good luck with that, you looney Joe!" Shooting Star exclaimed. "Those fancy forcefields will make those goofy spears of yours useless!" Jinx leapt into action, firing off orders.

 _Then we'll have to distract them!_ The pink-haired metahuman thought. "Impulse, run! Draw their fire!"

"Uh, yeah! Consider it drawn!" The young mutant nodded nervously.

"Be careful, Impulse!" Lady Jaye warned. "Remember your training!"

 _ **ZOOM!**_

The Alabaman mutant raced towards the Watchdogs. _You can do this, Bart!_ He encouraged himself. _You trained for this, remember? And also, we're helping protect Dazzler! What's more awesome than that?! Maybe she'll let us sing on her next single! That would be so cool! I've done **so** much karaoke to her songs!_ A grin grew on the boy's face and his eyes shined under his golden-lensed goggles.

"What's that freak kid doing?!" Dawson asked.

"Shoot him!" Pack Leader ordered. "I'm going for the singing bimbo!" The Watchdogs fired at Impulse, making the young mutant yelp, but otherwise, he maintained focus and kept running around.

 _Like hell he is!_ Jinx thought when she overheard that. "Siryn, back Impulse up! Try to use your sonics to disorient them further!"

"Ye got it, Jinx!" The Irish teenager took to the air.

"Red Dragon, back her up! Give 'em the heat!"

"Yeah, yeah..." Jake followed Theresa.

"Hey, Dragon! Let's give these fellas a taste of sound and burning fury!" The blonde Irish girl grinned.

"If ya say so." Jake shrugged.

 _ **EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!**_

Theresa let out a sonic scream. The waves of sound rippled through the air as they flew towards the power-armored Watchdogs, making them scream.

 _Gahhhhhh!_ Wilder yelped. _These armors may have forcefields, but they can't keep out sound!_

"If you guys liked that, you're going to love this!" Jake snapped, his eyes glowing blue.

 _ **FWOOOSH!**_

The redhead belched out a stream of flame that hit areas around the Watchdogs, making them yelp and jump around.

"YEOW!" Wilder yelped.

"The kid's a psychopath!" Dawson exclaimed. He heard a laugh. "What?!" He turned around.

"Howdy, jackass!" Ace whooped as he shoulder-checked Dawson. "Remember me?!"

"You!" He exclaimed as he found himself looking into Ace's grinning face.

"Yes, me!" Ace mocked. "I'm gonna find a way to break that fancy forcefield, then peel open your wannabe Iron Man suit like a tin can!" He held up his hand, which showed his claws were glowing a neon blue.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! You suck!" Bart taunted as he raced around the battlefield. "You Watchdogs are jokes! We're the West Coast Misfits! And we're awesome!" The Red Dragon overheard him.

 _The West Cost Misfits. Awesome. Right. Bart is delusional._ Jake fought to roll his eyes. Shooting Star and Lady Jaye looked at each other.

"What the hell did I get dragged into?" The cowgirl asked.

"I take it that you don't get involved with superpowers much." Lady Jaye remarked dryly.

Shooting Star rolled her eyes. "Hardly. I've dealt with my fair share of superhuman craziness. I just get the feeling these guys take it to a whole new level. Was the Gathering like this?"

"Imagine this, but a hundred times bigger and more brutal."

... _God's sake!_ "It wasn't exactly a bed of roses here in Dallas during that time either!" Shooting Star snapped. "And unlike you, me and Texas Twister didn't have the option of having the Justice League or Avengers at our beck and call!"

"Are you seriously wanting to argue about this _now?!_ " Lady Jaye exclaimed.

"I'm just saying, us Locals got to work with what we got. _Some_ of us don't have Superman or Iron Man on speed-dial." Shooting Star snorted. Lady Jaye immediately got what the cowgirl was insinuating.

" _You are all buddy-buddy with all those big-time heroes! Get someone here to help us!"_ "Look Star, it's not that simple. A lot of them are busy with their own lives."

"Of course." Shooting Star sneered. "I doubt they'd help here anyway. Dallas wasn't worth their time when there were monsters everywhere, they sure as hell won't help here now."

Lady Jaye sighed. _She just wants to pick a fight._ "We _couldn't_ help at the Gathering. But we are here _now._ We can help right _now,_ so let us help you now. Think of it as a way of making it up to you for being unable to help you and Texas Twister during the Gathering."

He looked down at the chaotic fight. Theresa and Bart had been using their powers to disorient the men. Wildstar was slashing at Dawson's power armor, trying to tear it open. Jinx and Lady Jaye used a gun and hex bolts to keep the men on the defensive. _We need a plan. We need to shut down those forcefields properly to do any **real** damage. Starway is a tech head, she could figure out how to do this...but she and the rest of the Superstars are in Australia. _Jake let out a growl in frustration. _This team is a damned disaster. How we survived the Gathering, I'll never know._

"Hey, Red Dragon!" Jinx yelled in her communicator. "If you got a plan, we could use it right now!" She backflipped to avoid a stream of bullets.

 _This team is a disaster._ Jake thought. _Half of it is in Australia, which leave us weakened. How can we get Lila to..._ His eyes widened, and he slapped his forehead in disbelief. _Jake Wildfire, you are a complete and utter moron! She doesn't **need** to be here! She can hack them from there!_ The redheaded Bostonian activated his Joe-Com, mentally cursing himself out the entire time.

 **Sydney, Australia**

"Huh?" A puzzled Jenni and Lila blinked in unison, looking at their Joe-Coms. The displays on the watch-like devices showed an icon of a red dragon. The girls looked at each other.

"Jake." They said, then activated the devices.

"What's going on, Jake?" Jenni asked.

"I'm in Dallas!" Jake said. "There's a bunch of psychos in power armors attacking a stadium here! Lila, I need you to get your skinny English butt to a computer and get to hacking!"

"You could just ask nicely, you arse..." Lila grumbled as she grabbed a laptop, opened it up, and got to work. "If those things have computerized control systems, I could break in."

"They have forcefields, and we need them shut down."

"Alright..."

"Jake, are you alright? Is everyone else alright?!" Jenni asked.

"Oh, we're just fine, we're just getting _wrecked_ out here!" Jake snapped. Jenni scowled at this. Meanwhile, one of the power-armored Watchdogs looked up and noticed Jake hovering.

"Hey! HEY!" He pointed his arm cannon at Jake. "Get right down here, freak! I'm giving you till three! THREE!"

 _ **Rat-a-tat-tat! Rat-a-tat-tat!**_

Jake cursed as he found himself weaving around in the air in an attempt to dodge the bullet streams.

"JAKE!" Lila and Jenni screamed in unison.

"Jake, are you okay?!" Jenni asked in a panic.

"I'm fine, just getting _shot at!_ " Jake exclaimed.

"You can't dodge it forever, freak! You'll get yours!" The shooter yelled.

"Oh, go make out with your cousin, you mindless inbred yokel simpleton!" Jake snapped.

"Jake, are you hurt?!" A freaking out Jenni asked.

"...THE HELL YOU THINK?!"

"YOU DON'T NEED TO SHOUT AT ME!"

"I THINK IT WOULD BE OBVIOUS IF I WAS INJURED, YOU BLONDE BONEHEAD!" Jake roared in rage.

The Watchdog watched this in confusion. _What is going on up there? Who is he blabbing with up there? Freaks are crazy._ "Hey, freak! Who're you talking to?! Your imaginary friend?!" He started to laugh. "I bet you never had any real friends growing up! I doubt any _real_ kids would have wanted to hang out with your monstrous punk ass! HAHAHAHAHA!" Jake sneered.

 _I'm going to incinerate that man._ Jake grumbled. A smirk crossed his face. _This is incredibly stupid. This is something Kyle would do. But you know what? Screw it. He's not the only one who inherited the sparkling Wildfire wit._ "I'm talking to your mother on my smartwatch! Wanted to thank her for last night! Best fifty cents I ever spent!" The shooter's eyes widened, face turned purple, and body shook with rage.

"YOU FREAK MOTHER$&%#&%!" He roared in fury. "MY MOTHER IS A SAINT! SHE'D NEVER HOOK UP WITH A MUTIE! NEVER! _NEVER!_ _**NEVERRRRRRRRR!**_ " He angrily fired both arm cannons at Jake.

"You suck!" The redheaded mutant mocked as he started dodging the Watchdog's fire again. In Australia, Jenni and Lila looked up from their devices, and glanced at each other.

"What in the name of Eric Carr's ghost is going on?!" Jenni wondered out loud.

"I'm being shot at again!" Jake answered. "Evidently, somebody didn't like it when he learned his mother has a mutant fetish."

" _ **YOU'RE GOING TO DIE TODAY, FLYBOY!**_ " The shooter's roar could be heard over the Joe-Com.

"You're starting to sound a lot like your little insane brother." Jenni frowned.

"Kyle's not the only Wildfire with a smart mouth." Jake smirked. Jenni rolled her eyes.

 _Oh, God. Kyle is bad enough, but Jake, too?_ The Chicago blonde sighed.

"Hang on!" Lila piped up. "I think I got something!"

"You do?!"

"I believe so." Lila nodded. Meanwhile, Flint, Alison, Longshot, and Bella Blaire were racing towards the exit of the stadium.

"Navarro, you remember the plan?" The warrant officer said into his Joe-Com.

"The car is ready, Flint! Just waiting for you!" The chief said.

"Good, we're on our way!"

"Flint, I'm nervous." Longshot whispered. "What if something happens to Alison?"

"Don't think like that, kid." Flint reassured. "We went over the plan. We'll get her to safety, and the others can deal with the Watchdogs."

 _ **SMASH!**_

"Oh my God!" Bella clutched Alison close to her.

"Grandma, what just-?!" Alison gasped as the Watchdogs' Pack Leader burst in through the wall, his power armor looking almost like a monster.

"Hello, Miss Blaire." Pack Leader grinned maliciously under his helmet. "We were looking for you."

"Get away from her, monster!" Longshot snapped, throwing some explosive shuriken. The small four-pointed star-shaped projectiles raced through the air, and hit the power armor.

 _ **Boom! Boom! Boom!**_

They had no effect.

"Power armor, freak." Pack Leader snarled. "With protective forcefields. No freak can damage these things!"

"Keep going!" Flint snapped. "This way!" The four raced off in another direction. "Navarro, we might be bit longer! Longshot!"

"Right!" He pulled a smoke grenade out of his satchel and pitched it behind them.

 _ **Blam! Pafffffff...**_

The grenade released a flash of light and a thick plume of gray smoke.

"Gah!" Pack Leader gasped as the smoke obscured his view. "Dammit! Stinkin' mutie!"

"Are you alright?" Longshot asked Alison in concern.

"Shaken up, but okay." She nodded.

"I'm getting too old for this &$^#..." Bella groaned.

"Hawk would agree with you on that, lady." Flint chuckled. "DUCK!" The four hit the floor as gunshots rang over their heads. Flint fired back with his gun, but it had no effect.

"Your little gun can't stop us, you traitor!" Pack Leader yelled. "You GI Joes disgust us! You claim to protect humanity from terrorists, yet you protect monsters and try to pretend they are like us!"

"They aren't the ones attacking a concert, jackass!" Flint snapped back. Back in the main part of the stadium, the West Coast Misfits and Lady Jaye were trying to fight off the other power armor-wearing Watchdogs.

"Agh!" Wildstar groaned as he hit the ground. _Those freakin' forcefields! How're we supposed to shut them down?_ One of the Watchdogs walked, no, _sauntered_ towards Wildstar.

"Welcome to Hell, freak." The Watchdog smirked as he pointed his blaster at the feral. The muzzle started to glow as it powered up.

 _ **FWOOSH!**_

"AGH!" The Watchdog screamed as a wall of fire erupted in front of him.

"Whoa!" The anti-superhuman militant yelped, covering his face. Red Dragon swooped down and grabbed Ace.

"Whoa!" Ace yelped. "Thanks for the save!"

"I got Lila in Australia trying to hack those power armors and shut their forcefields down." Jake told the feral simply.

"Nice one, Red!" Ace grinned, holding up his hand for a high-five. Jake just rolled his eyes in response. Jake's Joe-Com beeped. The display showed an icon of a golden comet with a five-pointed star for a head.

"Lila." Jake said. "You better have them hacked."

 **Sydney**

"It's taking a bit, mate." The British mutant told him as she typed. "These guys have some really good security in their armor's systems."

"You can do it, Lila! There's noting on Earth you can't break in to!" Jenni encouraged. She then winced as the last part. "That came out wrong."

Lila smirked. "Oh, I'll crack these eggs real good." She continued typing. "Ah, there we go. I got one down..."

 **Dallas**

"Yeah!" Wilder whooped as he fired at Impulse. "Gonna get me a freak tonight!"

"You aren't going to hurt Dazzler, you jerk!" Impulse yelled. "She's done nothing to you!"

"You don't know that, boy!" Wilder snapped. "She's a monster! All of your kind are!"

"She's a singer, not a serial killer!"

"She makes light effects, and yet she _dares_ to say she's a human!" Wilder yelled. "Look at you, freak! You run like a race car! Human beings shouldn't do that!"

"Well, I can!" Impulse yelled back. "That doesn't make me a bad person!"

"It makes you a monster!" Wilder snarled. "And the only good monster is a _dead_ monster!" He pointed his blaster at the young mutant. "Your kind will not act superior to us anymore."

 _ **Bzz-zzt!**_

"What?" Wilder blinked as he saw wave of blue energy run up and down his power armor.

"Huh?" Impulse noticed his Joe-Com. It displayed Lila's little logo. "Hey, Lila!"

"Bart, I managed to shut down his forcefield!" Lila told him. "I think you can take him down now!"

"Really? Awesome! Thanks, Lila!" The Alabama speedster grinned.

"The hell is going on here?!" Wilder looked at his display.

 _Forcefield deacivated._

"What?!" Wilder yelped. He tried to reactivate it, but his attempts all ended in failure. "How?! What the-?! What's wrong with this hunk of junk?!"

"Maybe it just doesn't like you!" Impulse mocked with a big grin. "Time to have some _real_ fun!"

 _ **Zoom!**_

Bart raced towards the Watchdog. Wilder tried to aim his blaster at the young mutant...but he was just too slow.

"Yahoo!" Bart whooped as he started racing around the power-armored human supremacist.

"Oh, no..." Wilder whimpered.

"Hey, buddy!" Bart taunted. "Let's play a game! How many times can I punch this armor in ten seconds?!"

 _ **WHAMWHAMWHAMWHAMWHAMWHAMWHAMWHAMWHAM!**_

Bart's gloved fists were like pistons, pounding on the armor Wilder was wearing. The Watchdog screamed as the metal buckled and broke under said fists. In a short time, Bart was able to tear pieces off the mech suit until he managed to get to Wilder.

"Man, the Power Rangers should sue you silly." Bart cackled as he ripped Wilder's dog head-themed helmet. "Nighty-night!"

 _ **Pow!**_

The speedster nailed Wilder with a sock to the jaw, knocking him cold.

"DIE, YOU MUTANT FREAK!" The Watchdog who kept shooting at Jake roared as he, well, shot at the Red Dragon. The redheaded mutant just flew around and dodged the bullets.

"Can't take a joke, huh pal?" Jake chuckled. _I have to admit, this guy is giving me a good laugh. I've been really miserable since being forced onto this stupid team, so it feels good to be able to actually **enjoy** something again!_ He then spoke up louder. "Not my fault your mother thinks mutants are incredibly sexy!"

"You foul abomination!" The Watchdog roared. "You _dare_ say my mother would sleep with a stinking mutant!"

"I couldn't help it if she was into me!" Jake laughed.

"Come down here and face me like a _human,_ you animal!" The Watchdog snapped.

"Why don't you shut off that fancy forcefield of yours first?" Jake snorted. "You say you ain't afraid of me? Then shut off your forcefield."

"And why should I listen to you, you monster?"

"Contrary to what you think, I have honor." Jake answered. "Shut off your forcefield, and I will come down."

"No, you come down here first!"

Jake smirked. "I'm not an idiot."

"Well, looks like we got a standoff then-!" _**Bzzt!**_ "...what?!" Blue energy crackled around his armor.

 _ **Forcefield disabled.**_

"The hell?!" The Watchdog yelled. He looked up and saw...a red-scaled red-haired anthropomorphic dragon rushing towards him. "YOUSAIDYOUHADHONOR!"

 _ **Bwam!**_

The transformed Jake shoulder-checked the armored Watchdog, smashing him into a wall. He then tore open the mech suit and grabbed the Watchdog. The human supremacist whimpered in fear as Jake tore off his helmet.

"I do." Jake growled. "But remember what I said? I'm not stupid." Jake changed back into his human form and punched the Watchdog out. He heard a high-pitched squeal. The redhead turned around and saw Dawson pointing his mech's blaster arm at him.

"You dead, freak!" He taunted. The blue energy effect ran up and down his armor. "Hey, my forcefield's down!"

 _ **SLASH!**_

"AGH!" Dawson exclaimed as Ace slashed into the back of his mech armor with his energy claws.

"Yo, Dragon!" The feral mutant called out. "What say you and I tag-team on this clown?"

"A handicap match with him? Fine by me." Jake fired a stream of flame from his mouth. Ace's fingers glowed with blue energy as he balled them into fists.

"Let's rock and roll, baby! AOW!" Ace whooped. He thrust his fists out at the Watchdog.

 _ **BAZOW!**_

Ace fired a pair of blue energy beams from his fists as a stream of flame erupted from Jake's mouth. The two attacks slammed into Dawson's mech armor, sending him flying.

"WAHHHHHHHHH!" He screamed as he got slammed into another wall. Ace bound towards him at incredible speed, Jake following by air. The redhead trapped the human supremacist in a ring of flame.

"Cheating freaks!" Dawson snarled. "Can't fight like men!" Ace leapt over the flames, his claws glowing.

"Like you know about fair fights, pal!" Ace whooped, whipping his arms.

 _ **SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!**_

Ace's arm movements created a quartet of blue laser arcs. The arcs raced through the air, slicing off the ends of the arms and legs of the mech suits, making Dawson defenseless.

"AGH!" He screamed. Ace then tore open the mech suit and pulled Dawson out. He ripped off his helmet.

"Hi." Ace grinned at the frightened Watchdog before punching his lights out. Meanwhile, the remaining Watchdogs are dealing with the girls.

"Goldarn tomcats!" Shooting Star grumbled as she vainly shot at the armored men. _I feel underpowered here. I'm surrounded by lunatics, fighting crazy men in armor. Only I don't have Drew backing me up. He was the powerhouse thanks to those wind powers of his. But he is in a coma...and these soldiers and their superkids don't even care. Not surprising._

"Ha!" Jinx smirked as she hexed the ground underneath one of the Watchdogs' mech suits, making it sink in and topple over. _I should have remembered to use the indirect tactics we developed to fight the Hellfire Heartless. We should have kept in mind we may need to use those again in the future. Live and learn..._

 _We may not be able to do a lot of damage..._ Theresa thought as she dodged some laser fire from another Watchdog. _But at least_ _we can keep them disoriented until Flint and Longshot can get Alison to safety._ She noticed Shooting Star trying to shoot the men. The Irish girl felt a pang of sympathy for her. _God, poor Shooting Star. I wished we could have helped her here in Dallas. Maybe th' Texas Twister wouldn't be in the state he's in now. But we couldn't. We had to stop the Gathering then in Los Angeles. It was the only way, the Joes said. More lives would have been lost if we didn't._ She then noticed blue energy arcing up and down their suits. _What?_ She thought in confusion. Her Joe-Com beeped. "Siryn here."

"Siryn!" Lila's voice cheered from the small smartwatch-like device. "I managed to hack into their armor and shut down their forcefields!"

"Thanks, Starway!" The Irish girl smiled.

"You got it!"

"Guys! They managed to-!"

"We heard!" Lady Jaye pulled out a spear from her quiver and looked at Jinx. The two shared a nod.

"Our forcefields are down!" One of the remaining Watchdogs exclaimed.

"How did-!"

"Jinx, sink 'em." Lady Jaye ordered.

"Consider them sunk." The pink-haired sorceress fired some hex energy at the ground underneath the human supremacists, causing their armored bodies to sink to the ground up to their shoulders.

"Holy hell, remind me to never get you mad, kid." Shooting Star blinked. Jinx smiled.

"People tend to learn that lesson quick." She joked. Shooting Star blinked and turned to Lady Jaye.

"Uh, I heard she was supposed to be reformed."

"She is." The counterintelligence expert reassured. "She's one of the good guys now." Lady Jaye turned a dial on her javelin, a smirk on her face.

 _I love these new javelins._ The brunette woman smirked.

"What's with the fancy javelin?" Shooting Star asked.

"Just watch." Lady Jaye told her. "You boys are in for quite a shock!" She tossed the javelin, and it landed dead center in the middle of the sunken Watchdogs.

 _ **FRAZZZZZZ!**_

The javelin emitted bolts of electrical power that raced up and down the Watchdogs' mech suits, making the men inside scream. Theresa gasped as he landed next to the girls.

"What is happening with them?!" She exclaimed in horror.

"Gotta admit, that's pretty rough." Shooting Star blinked.

"It's alright, guys." Lady Jaye reassured with a smile. "We're just giving these sick men some electroshock therapy."

"Yeah." Jinx cackled. "It'll get their brains back in working order, no problem!" True to the brunette's reassurance, the shock stopped quickly, leaving a bunch of trapped, moaning Watchdogs.

"It also has another wonderful side-effect." Lady Jaye smirked. "It shorted out their suits. They're basically hunks of junk now."

"But...aren't they trapped in them now?" Theresa realized.

"Eh, we'll get them out." Jinx looked at her Joe-Com like she was casually checking the time. "...after we get food. I'm feeling hungry." Lady Jaye frowned and narrowed her eyes as she looked around. Jinx and Theresa blinked at the elder woman. "...Lady Jaye?"

"One's missing." Lady Jaye realized.

"Oh, wonderful!" Shooting Star groaned, throwing her hands up in the air.

"Which one?" Theresa muttered as she and Jinx looked at each other. "I mean, I admit...I lost track with all the chaos..."

"Likely the leader." Jinx realized as Bart zipped up to them.

"What's going on?" The speedster asked in confusion.

"Alison's still in danger, Bart." Theresa answered. Bart gasped.

"We gotta find her!" He yelped.

"Isn't Flint with her?" Theresa asked.

"Longshot too, I think." Bart nodded. "I think he's got a crush on her." It was then that Red Dragon and Wildstar arrived.

"Of _course_ he'd go after her." Jake grumbled. "Idiot is going to get himself killed."

"Are you just a ray of sunshine?" Ace laughed. "Mr. Happy here and I took care of our bad guys."

"And I got mine!" Bart nodded proudly.

"Thank God fer Starway." Theresa smiled. "But we still have ta find Alison, Flint, and Longshot."

"I'm on it!" Bart whooped, zipping off.

"IMPULSE!" Lady Jaye screamed. "Get back here!" Shooting Star shot a glance at Jake.

"Kid's an idiot."

"Tell me about it." Jake pinched the bridge of his nose.

–

"Ughn!" Flint grunted as he and Longshot got tossed aside. Bella gasped and clutched a frightened Alison tight.

"Get away from us, you monster!" Bella snapped, tossing a rock. The rock made a buzzing noise as it bounced off the mech's forcefield. The Pack Leader stomped towards the glaring woman and her frightened blonde granddaughter.

"Old lady, I'm giving you a chance." Pack Leader growled. "Do the right thing for your species, and let me purge the world of that monster."

"She's not a monster, she's my granddaughter!" Bella snapped. "You and your lousy Watchdogs are the monsters!"

"She was turning innocent humans against their own!" Pack Leader stated. "Filling their heads with lies about the mutants! Saying they were good, but I know the truth! I know what monsters they are!"

"She was _singing!_ She's not some monster!" Bella yelled. "She's no Magneto!" Throughout the whole argument, a shivering Alison's mind raced.

 _I-I still have plenty of light energy stored up inside of me._ She noted. _My body absorbed the sound of the musicians and the noise of the crowd. Not to mention the sounds of this chaos. I just wish I could use it to **something** besides light effects..._

"That doesn't mean she won't be one in the future." Pack Leader snarled. "And if you choose to stand with her, then you shall die with her." He pointed his cannon at them. A ball of energy started to glow in front of the cannon's muzzle. Bella glared at the Watchdog, clutching a whimpering Alison closer.

 _No no no no no..._ Alison mentally whimpered.

 _ **FZOW!**_

The energy blast fired from the cannon. The ball of energy raced closer to the two.

"...no no no NO!" Alison yelped. Her eyes flashed open, and they glowed yellow.

 _ **BOOM!**_

The energy ball exploded, impacting a dome of energy over Alison and Bella. The elder woman blinked at the dome.

"What?!" Pack Leader exclaimed.

"Alison...is this you?!" Bella asked. Alison blinked.

"I...think so." She tapped the wall of her energy dome. "Huh. Neat."

"No matter, I will still purge this world of you!" Pack Leader yelled, preparing to blast the dome. A sparking noise was heard as blue energy ran up and down the mech armor suit. "What the?! My forcefield's down!"

 _ **ZOOM!**_

"AGH!" Pack Leader exclaimed as he got ambushed by a furious Impulse.

"Leave her alone!" He yelled as he started pounding on the mech suit. Flint and Longshot got back to their feet and looked over at the dome.

"Kid, are _you_ causing this?" Flint asked as he tapped the dome. Alison nodded.

"He was going to shoot us!" Bella exclaimed. "Don't just stand there, beat the hell out of him!"

"Something happened!" Alison mumbled. "He-he said something about a forcefield being down!"

"It's the mech suits!" Lady Jaye explained as she ran up, the others behind her. "They had protective forcefields! We got Starway to hack them and shut them down!"

"...isn't she in Australia?" Flint asked.

"She did it remotely, Flint."

"Oh. Makes sense." The warrant officer nodded. Longshot rushed over to Alison.

"Alison? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She nodded. "I think."

"Can you turn this off?" Bella asked. "I'm worried we might run out of air in here."

"Uh, right..." Alison concentrated, and the dome faded. Longshot and Bart helped her up.

"Hey there, puppy!" Ace grinned as he and Jake attacked the Watchdog, using their strength to tear into the armor. The leonine mutant laughed as he pulled the Watchdog out. He then tore off the man's helmet. "Aww, ain't you cute? But no dog can match this King of the California Jungle!"

 _God's sake, Ace..._ Jake fought the urge to facepalm.

"You are _animals!_ " Pack Leader howled. "Nothing more than rabid animals! I'm not the villain here! You monsters wave your powers around and think you're superior-!"

"AHHHHHHHH, SHADDAP!" Bella Blaire snapped as she punched Pack Leader out. Ace Starr could have sworn he saw a couple teeth fly out of the psycho's mouth.

"Damn!" The feral mutant laughed.

"Wow." Theresa blinked as the other West Coast Misfits burst out laughing...except for Jake, of course. But then again, these days, the Red Dragon did not have much of a reason to laugh about anything.

"Well, this has been an utter disaster..." Jake sighed.

Flint chuckled. "Heh heh. Remind me to never mess with you, Miss Blaire."

"You'd be wise not to, handsome." Bella winked.

"Grandma..." Alison groaned, facepalming in embarassment.

"Please don't flirt with my husband." Lady Jaye frowned.

 **Some time later**

Alison sat on the couch in her dressing room. With her were her grandmother, Chief Navarro, Shooting Star, and the West Coast Misfits. She looked rather downbeat, with Bella having her arm around her in a comforting measure.

"We got the Watchdogs in custody, and their armor impounded." Navarro told Flint and Lady Jaye. "We'll be trying to get any information out of them about other Watchdog cells, but it's unlikely, I'm afraid."

"We know you'll try your best, Chief. Hope you get something." Flint nodded.

"So do I." Navarro nodded. He then shook Flint and Lady Jaye's hands. "Thanks for your help. It was greatly appreciated."

"Happy to help, Chief. I'm sorry the stadium suffered so much damage, though. It was just repaired, if I remember correctly." Lady Jaye said.

"Yeah." Navarro sighed. "At least the builders will still have some more work...on top of the repairs they're already working on."

"I'm sure it can be repaired again." Flint smiled.

"Hope so. People love this old stadium." Navarro nodded. "Well, I must be going. I have to go make sure that the Watchdogs get what's coming to them. Tell Miss Blaire she has my regards." He left the room.

"Good luck, chief." Flint waved.

"This was such a mess..." Alison sighed. "All I wanted was to give people a break from the carnage, and I ended up bringing in more." Jake Wildfire, who had been leaning on a wall, rolled his eyes.

"Welcome to the life of the superhero, pal." The redhead grumbled.

"It wasn't your fault, sweetie." Bella assured the blonde, hugging her granddaughter closer. "It was those stupid Watchdogs that wrecked the show."

"Yeah, Alison!" Bart nodded in agreement. "It wasn't your fault! You had an awesome show!"

"And we got to learn that your grandma has a hell of a right hook." Ace laughed.

"That _was_ great." Lady Jaye smiled. She had to admit, despite Bella's flirtatiousness towards Flint, the javelin user quite liked the older woman.

"Before the Watchdogs attacked, it _was_ a great show." Theresa added.

"Yeah, it was a lot of fun." Jinx agreed.

"Thanks, guys." Alison smiled. "I appreciate it." She looked at Longshot. "And thank _you_ for trying to protect me back there."

Longshot's face fell a little bit. "I...didn't do a very good job." He didn't notice Jake staring at him impassively. One one hand, the Red Dragon hoped that this would spell the end of Longshot's idiotic crush. On the other...he found himself feeling bad for the blond artificial lifeform.

"You did your best." Alison reassured, which made the blond Mojoworldian smile a little.

"Hey, I got an idea!" Bart grinned. "Why don't we make the Dazzler an honorary member of the West Coast Misfits?"

 _For the love of God, Bart..._ Jake groaned. He noticed Shooting Star leave the room. He decided to follow her. _Probably as fed up with this as I am..._ He followed her out of the room, and she noticed.

"The heck you doing?" She asked him.

Jake shrugged. "I'm not following you, if that's what you're thinking."

"You say that, but you left right after I did."

"Coincidental, I assure you."

"... _riiiiight._ " Shooting Star drawled, not completely believing the redheaded mutant. "So, why _did_ you come out here, then?"

"I got a bit fed up with everyone in there palling around." Jake explained.

"I don't blame ya, kid." Shooting Star nodded. "I don't get how ya put up with them."

"Neither do I." Jake admitted. He looked at her. "So, what're going to do now?"

"I...I don't know." The blonde heroine confessed. "The Twister is still in a coma, and fightin' crime has been more difficult without him backin' me up. I ain't got no superpowers of my own, just my guns and my wits."

"Then take a break." Jake shrugged. "Doesn't Dallas have any other superheroes?"

"A couple." Shooting Star nodded. "But one of 'em got banged up during the Talisman Riots, and the other got killed."

"...I see."

"Yeah." Shooting Star nodded. "And new superheroes don't just sprout up like weeds. We Locals gotta work with what we can get, unlike the Justice League with their fancy Watchtower." She scowled. "We had to hold the line, and they didn't even thank us. They used our blood, sweat, tears, and _lives_ to win the Gathering!"

"I fought at the Gathering." Jake reminded. "It wasn't a fun time. I'm from Boston, and I was terrified for my home the entire time. I wanted to go back home and protect my old friends there. But I couldn't. I know you Locals are angry. Hell, that psycho from Cleveland tried to beat Superman's brain into paste over it." Jake sighed. "More lives would have been lost had we not fought at the Gathering. Many of us didn't like it either, but it had to be done."

"Lives still got lost. It didn't matter. People still died."

"It's war. It sucks."

"And we Locals got left to clean it up."

"Again, it's war. It sucks." Jake said. "It's cruel. It's destructive. The only fair thing about it is that everyone suffers thanks to it. You suffered, and so did I. You may have to bury the man you love, and I got stuck on a team of lunatics that I hate with no hope of escape." The two looked at each other.

"I guess we both got screwed over by the Gathering."

"Yup." Jake nodded. "We all were forced to pay a price."

"...I guess so." Shooting Star sighed. "Maybe I was a bit hard on you."

Jake nodded. "I get it. I don't blame you, and I won't hold it against you. I hope things work for you. I really do."

For the first time since before the Gathering, Victoria Starwin let out a small genuine smile. "Thanks, kid." She patted Jake's shoulder. "Hope the same for you, Red. Maybe you'll find a way off this team one day."

"Somehow...I doubt it." Jake sighed. Meanwhile, Bart was still pushing his idea on the others.

"Really, Bart." Flint chuckled.

"I'm serious!" Bart insisted. "Pleeeeeease? Alison would be awesome as a West Coast Misfit!"

"Uh, yeah...I don't think that's for me." Alison shook her head.

"Yes." Bella agreed. "No offense to all of you. What you do is important and appreciated, but it's also incredibly dangerous. I'm amazed you Joes allow kids so young to be involved in this stuff."

"Amazes us, too." Flint remarked.

"The Misfit program is really supposed to be about taking in wayward young superhumans and helping them become better people." Lady Jaye explained. "The superhero thing was...kind of a side effect."

"Oh, I see." Bella nodded.

"If she doesn't want to join up Bart, there's nothing we can do about that." Theresa advised the young speedster.

"That is a shame, though." Longshot smiled at Alison. "I...I- _We'd_ see more of you around."

"I'll tell you what." Alison held out her hand. "You got a phone?"

"Uh, I think so..." Longshot pulled one out of his satchel and unlocked it for her. "Is this it?"

"Yup!" Alison took the phone, and did some tapping on it. "There you go. I just added me to your contacts." Longshot gasped and blushed, which made the blonde singer giggle.

"That's very nice of you, Miss Blaire." Flint said.

"Luckyyyy..." Bart pouted at Longshot. The artificial lifeform smiled.

 _I had better not show Jake this. It will put him in a mood._

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Bella whispered.

"I think he's kinda cute." Alison whispered back.

"Look at it like that, Bart." Theresa smiled. "At least she can talk to us on occasion."

"I guess so." Bart nodded. Jinx then came up with an idea.

"Hey, why don't we make Alison an _honorary_ West Coast Misfit?" The pink-haired girl suggested. Bella and Alison looked at each other.

"Well, that sounds nice." Bella said. Alison nodded.

"So, do we make her a certificate or a badge or something?" Ace blinked. "Or do we give her a Joe-Com?" Jake Wildfire walked back in as Ace spoke.

"How's Shooting Star?" Flint asked.

"Fine. She just needs to take a walk. What're you talking about?"

"Making Dazzler an honorary West Coast Misfit!" Bart grinned. Jake rolled his eyes.

"Now _I_ need to take a walk." He grumbled.

"Well, aren't _you_ just a ray of sunshine?" Bella grinned at the redheaded mutant.

"That's our Jake." Ace laughed, lightly slapping the Bostonian mutant's shoulder. "The Happiest Man on Earth. You can tell he's incredibly overjoyed at the idea of Alison being an honorary West Coast Misfit."

 _We already have **four** damned energy-blasters on this team, we don't need another one!_ Jake mentally roared, until he realized that Alison would not _really_ join the team.

"It was really neat!" Bart whooped. "The Watchdog tried to blast her, but she created this forcefield! It was like a golden dome!"

"Cool for _you,_ kid. We nearly got killed." Alison grunted, making Bella hold her a bit tighter. It was then that Jake's mind started to work.

 _Protective forcefields, eh?_ Jake thought. _Hmmm...unlike the Starr Family, Alison's powers may be more versatile than anyone thought. We all thought it was only good for fancy light effects on stage, but this? Alison might be much more powerful than we think. Shame she doesn't want to join the team. God knows we need a more versatile mix of powers on this team. Whatever god thought giving this team the roster we have must have been lazy, insane, or both..._

"Is...is he alright?" Alison asked.

"Him?" Ace glanced at Jake, and then shrugged. "Yeah, he is just thinking."

"What about?"

"Knowing Jake, he's thinking about your powers." Jinx snorted. _Jake complained endlessly about the mix of powers on this team. He'd be **salivating** at the idea of new ones being added to the mix. As much as he clearly hates us and this team, he does enjoy playing tactician._

"Still, I think you'd be a great honorary West Coast Misfit. I even made a card!" Bart grinned, handing a small object to Alison. It was a little laminated card with "Honorary West Coast Misfit" on it.

"Where'd ye get that, Bart?" Theresa asked.

"I had it made in the Joe offices before we left." Bart smiled.

"Well, thank you, Bart." Alison handed the card to Bella. "I do appreciate it. I'd love it if you guys came to another show."

"Hopefully next time, it won't be so disastrous." Flint smiled.

 **Malibu Base, a couple days later.**

The West Coast Misfits had gathered around the table, eating some breakfast.

"Ace, stop hogging the bacon!" Jinx snapped.

"It's so good!" Ace licked his lips happily as he used his fork to scoop some more bacon on his plate.

"Aye, so let us have some, too!" Theresa said.

"When are the Superstars coming back again?" Longshot asked, then took in a mouthful of cereal.

"Next week." The Irish girl told him.

"It'll be nice seeing my cousins back." Ace smiled. He then glanced at Jake. "I bet you're happy to see your little brother again."

"Mm." Jake nodded, quietly eating his toast.

"Mail time!" Bazooka whooped as he walked in, carrying some letters.

"Ooh, any for us?" Ace grinned.

"A letter for you, Theresa. From your father and Moira."

"Thank ye, Bazooka." Theresa took her letter. "I hope they're doing well. Things have been so crazy durin' th' Gathering and the recovery that I've haven't had a lot of time to..."

"I'm sure they understand, Terry." Jinx smiled. "Muir Island had dealt wit hits fair share of chaos during the Gathering, too." Bazooka continued handing out the letters. Jinx got one from Mammoth and Gizmo. Since the Gathering, they also had left HIVE, off to do their own thing. Mammoth had went to Tibet, and Gizmo now worked as a tech expert in Canada. Impulse got one from his adopted family in Alabama. Ace got a letter from his parents back home in California. Longshot got a letter from Alison, making him jump for joy.

"She sent me a letter!" Longshot whooped. The blond-mulleted artificial lifeform literally did a cartwheel, making the Ace, Bart, and the girls laugh, Bazooka clap, and Jake rub his temple, as if he felt a headache coming on.

 _Ugh, I'm surrounded by idiots..._ The redheaded Bostonian groaned.

"What does it say, man? What does it say?" Ace asked excitedly. A shaky-handed Longshot fumbled with the letter as he tried to open it. He slowly managed to get the letter open. He nervously read the contents of the letter.

"Oh my gosh...She's hoping that I'll come see her at her show in Austin next week!"

"Awesome!" Bart whooped. "Hopefully this time we can just enjoy the show!"

"That would be nice." Theresa agreed with a smile.

"After that Dallas disaster, I think I've had enough of concerts to last me a while." Jake sighed.

"Oh! Here's another one for you, Jake." Bazooka handed Jake another letter, making the redhead blink in confusion.

"What? For me?" Jake took the letter.

Ace peeked at the address. "Hey, it's from Alison!" He smirked at Longshot. "Looks like you got a little rival for the dazzling Miss Blaire's affections."

"Ace, be nice!" Jinx lightly smacked Ace's arm.

Longshot blinked. "Oh. I hope not. I consider Jake a good friend." This made Jake frown.

"You can _have_ her, Mullet-head." Jake was about to hand the letter to Longshot, but he shook his head.

"She wrote that to you, Jake. You should be the one to read it."

Jake shrugged. "Fine." He opened it up.

 _Dear Jake,_

 _I hope this letter reaches you well. Out of all of the West Coast Misfits, you're the one who seemed the most like you need a bit of a pep talk._

 _I know you're angry at those Joe guys. I get it. You feel they don't care and don't listen. From what the others have told me, you seem to distance yourself from everyone else. It's like you don't want to be friends with anyone. That's pretty sad._

 _I can't help but feel a little bad for you. You must be incredibly lonely. So, if you want...you can write to me if you want. I'm not really a part of the team, so maybe that can help you trust me._

 _Speaking of your teammates, they're pretty nice. You should try to get to know them a bit more. They care about you, Jake. They want to be your friends. Don't be angry at them for something that wasn't their fault._

 _It was fun meeting you all...well, except for the nearly getting killed part. That was scary. I'm going to need some therapy for that. But it was nice to meet you all. I got some gifts for Bart and Arthur in the mail. They should be coming soon. I hope they like them._

 _Give your teammates a shot. You just might end up enjoying them having them around. Maybe you and the others can attend another one of my shows!_

 _P.S. Hopefully, you can bring that Longshot guy with you. He's kind of cute._

 _Alison Blaire, the Dazzler!_

"What'd she say?" Longshot asked.

"She thinks your goofy ass is cute. Not even God knows why." Jake told him. He looked down at the letter as Longshot squealed in delight. _Maybe you got a point there, Blondie. Maybe I've been a bit too hard on the others. They didn't lie to me like the Joes did. I'll give it a shot._

 **Parkland Memorial Hospital, Dallas, Texas**

A blonde woman approached the receptionist's desk. She was wearing a red blouse, blue jeans, brown cowboy boots, and a white Stetson was in her hands.

"Victoria Starwin here to see Drew Daniels." She told the receptionist. The woman nodded.

"In his usual room, my dear." She told the superheroine.

"Thank you." Victoria went over to the room where her husband lied in his bed. Whe nshe arrived at the room's door, she saw Dr. Trenton emerging. "Doc, I-"

"No change, I'm afraid." She told the blonde woman. Victoria sighed.

"I see. Thanks for takin' care of him."

Dr. Trenton smiled. "You're welcome. It's the least I can do for him, considering what he's done for this city."

"Yeah." Victoria sighed. "A shame Overdrive is gone. He was a good guy."

"Went out like a hero. Took out a bunch of those Heartless monsters with him."

"I'm going to go see him." Victoria went into the room. The blonde woman looked down sadly at the comatose Drew. She grabbed a chair and took a seat next to the redheaded hero. "Hey, Drew. How you doing, hon? I'm doing alright. I just helped save a singer recently. The Dazzler. Turns out the kid's a mutant. Who'd have thunk it? Although I guess we should have figured it out, considering those fancy light effects, heh heh." She sighed. "I had help, though. Not from Lariat, she's still recovering from her injuries. And God knows what the other Rangers are going through right now. It was the West Coast Misfits."

The blonde had read somewhere that people in comas could still hear others, so she hoped that her little talks with Drew were somehow getting through. She took his hand. "Yeah, the _West_ _Coast_ Misfits. Turns out there was another team of them. Yeah, those lunatic Joes managed to find enough superkids to create another group of Misfits. I can't believe it either, heh heh. One of them was alright. A big redheaded kid. Boston boy, based on the accent. Just as cynical about them as I am." She shook her head. "Hasn't been the same without you, Drew." She sighed and took his hand. "I wish you'd wake up. Being a hero hasn't been so fun with you like this. It has not been fun lately at all."

A sigh escaped her lips. "I love you, Drew. Please wake up. I know you're fighting to come back. It's not in your nature to give up. You didn't quit at the Gathering. I know you won't now." She kissed his forehead. "Don't quit on me, Drew."

"Miss Starwin?" Victoria turned and saw Dr. Trenton at the door. "It's time for his bath."

"Alright." Victoria nodded as she got up. "I'll be over later." She then blinked when she heard a grunt. "Huh?" She noticed that the grip on her hand was tightening.

"Ughng..." Dew Daniels' eyes fluttered.

"Oh my God!" Dr. Trenton exclaimed.

"He's waking up! He's waking up!" Victoria yelped in joy.

"Whuh...whuh..." Drew Daniels muttered as he slowly awakened. "Whuz goin' on...thirsty..."

"DREW!" Victoria grabbed him in a hug.

"Whazgoinon...where am I?" The Texan hero mumbled.

 _ **Hoo boy, this story was a tough one to write. It really was. The MoT-Verse may provide a lot of inspiration, but it is tough for me to write in this universe, for...certain reasons. Mainly a really bad falling-out between me and RogueFanKC some years ago. And my tendency to procrastinate did not help things there, ha ha. But I am happy it's finally done, and I hope you all enjoyed it.**_


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